


You Can't Take the Sky From Me

by Lilymoncat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: AU, And now Jaeger's kidnapped Harry for a bit, BAMF Harry Potter, BAMF Lily Potter, BAMF Skull (Reborn), Beware of Rampaging Cloud, Caracassa is not a bunch of mooks, Colonnello's good deeds backfire, Dumbledore's A+ Guardianing, F/M, Flames help them all, Gen, Harry Potter is Not a Horcrux, Harry has Reborn wrapped around his fingers, Harry is Skull's Sky, Harry is a Sky, Harry is not a puppet, Harry thinks Jaeger would make a good Dad, Jaeger (Reborn), Jaeger and Lily wandered in from the left field closet, Kawahira thinks about using Harry, M/M, No I don't know if they were using it, Not Luce, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sirius and Skull bonded over Motorcycles, Skull doesn't even want to know, Skull is Harry's Uncle, Skull is NOT weak, Skull's flames work weird, Sort of Ghost Lily Potter, Technically Skull kidnapped Harry, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Unconventional Uses for Dying Will Flames, Verde has LISTS, Verde is the cool Uncle, Vindice - Freeform, Vindice Headcanon, Viper and Gringotts is a dangerous combination, Viper is going to charge Skull a fuck ton, anymore, once - Freeform, over protective Arcobaleno, over protective Skull, say goodbye to sanity, the Arcobaleno aren't happy about the Prophecy, then Skull knocks that idea out of his head
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-11-07 03:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 40,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11050104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilymoncat/pseuds/Lilymoncat
Summary: Oleander Evans, also known as Skull de Mort, had no idea that visiting his sister Petunia was going to fuck up his life.





	1. The Morrigan builds with flesh and bone

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Français available: [You Can't Take the Sky From Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12129372) by [Aruthla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aruthla/pseuds/Aruthla)



> Just your semi-standard 'so-and-so from Insert Name Here makes off with little Harry to raise him as a BAMF' fic. Title is from the theme song to Firefly
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be broke. Please don't sue, I have no money.

If there was one thing Oleander (curse his parents and their obsession with flower names!) Evans absolutely hated it was visiting his oldest older sister. Petunia was, to put it bluntly, a bitch. Oh she hadn’t started that way, but having a sister who went to a school for witches and wizards and a brother who had weird purple flames that just wouldn’t allow him to stay hurt while she didn’t had soured her. That Oleander had decided to have a fit of teenage rebellion and was making quite a name for himself as Skull de Mort, immortal stuntman and she’d married what might be best described as a heart attack waiting to happen didn’t help. About the only thing the two siblings still agreed on was their dislike of Lily’s husband. Even that was for different reasons. Petunia couldn’t stand Lily getting a good looking heir to a family fortune. Oleander couldn’t say what he disliked about James Potter, but his flames wanted the man far away from his sister.

He roared his bike (a scandalous American made chopper and not his stunt bike, like hell he’d take the bike that was expected to burst into pieces under him regularly onto the highway) down Petty Petunia’s street, smirked at the neighbors who took one look at his plum colored hair and eyes (seriously, Petunia had gotten the normal coloring in the family, he and Lily looked like things out of the Big Book of Faerie Tales), the matching eyeshadow and lipstick, and his piercings and retreated into their houses like he might be contagious. Yes people, individuality is a disease. Oleander watched Petunia open the door and try to sneer down at him before she ushered him into the living room. Before she even said a word to him, the kettle shrieked in the kitchen and she bustled off to deal with it, leaving Oleander alone with a small blond sausage roll he assumed was his nephew and a pile of rags.

At least, Oleander THOUGHT it was a pile of rags until the sausage roll (wasn’t he named Dinky or Diddy or something horribly hipster?) flung himself on it kicking and biting and there was a scream. Oleander didn’t hesitate, he stood up, yanked the Sausage Roll off the weakly blubbering pile, spun him around and smacked him sharply across the ass and scooped the pile up. While Sausage Roll departed wailing for the kitchen (did Petunia never discipline him?), Oleander sorted the rag pile out into another child, a far too small child. Who looked up at him with Lily’s verdigris eyes and whimpered.

Oleander knew he had his quirks, knew that his flames had something to do with them. He channeled most of his restless energy into his stunts, his aggression and need to be moving and picking a fight with something. The first point he’d been introduced to James Potter had ended up in a two against one impromptu battle when something the man had said had gotten on Oleander’s last nerve and James’ friend Sirius had waded into the fight as well. Lily had petrified all of them to get them to stop, but he had been winning regardless of Potter’s claims to the contrary. There were people who would come to his shows, some repeatedly, and he could FEEL them calling to his flames with something, trying to entice or brute force his flames to them. They all left with wistful, disappointed, or angry faces when his flames refused them. But he could feel it from this child ( _lingeringtasteofLily’sYellownotawakeflames/poisonedtwistednotrightblackflames/warmwarmWARMandAWAKEorangeflames/aSkyaSkyaSkyofhisbloodHISSkyatlasthechooseshisSky…_ ), and his flames raged within him, flickers manifesting around his hands and trailing down from his shoulders.

“Oleander, how dare you hit Dudley! He’s a sweet…” Petunia trailed off at the sight of her no-good circus hoodlum of a brother hold Lily’s freak brat, staring at her with wide unblinking eyes while his freak flames flickered around him and across Harry’s body. She thought she saw a few flickers of orange mixed in with the raging violet inferno, but she was distracted as Oleander snarled at her. At her! Like she was the one doing something wrong and unnatural!

“Petunia, is there something you’d like to explain to me?” Judging, always judging violet eyes. Petunia didn’t measure up to her wonderful siblings, with their freaky natural colorings and abilities. Lily who could charm trees into blossom and Oleander who had more then once done things that would have resulted into death or dismemberment only for his flames to wipe the wounds from his body like they had never been. Lily with her handsome husband and Oleander never held down or back because he was a man not a woman. Petunia had had to settle for normal, and then even that had come crashing down. Lily dead from sticking her nose into some war, her freak brat sent to Petunia because he needed his ‘blood family’. Petunia drew herself up and screamed in Oleander’s startled face.

“I didn’t want him! None of me and mine’s business when Lily got herself mixed up in some freak’s blood war! When she plastered a target across her knocked up duff and then had to go into hiding! Got herself bloody murdered for being ‘not up to snuff’ and then they dump her freak spawn on me! Tell me it’s got to be ME! Ask ME to keep his worthless hide alive because of some prophecy and him needing to ‘call home the place where his mother’s blood dwells’ like I want anything to do with more freakishness! Like Vernon and I needed another mouth to feed! He’s NOT MINE AND I DON’T WANT HIM!” Oleander’s face could have been carved from granite, his flames deceptively still. Harry was sniveling, worthless freak that he was, pressing his face into Oleander’s chest. Petunia stared back into Oleander’s all but glowing eyes (unaware of the faintest traces of red-orange flames in her eyes, corrupted Sky, Wrathful Sky staring down the Cloud that was so insanely strong he couldn’t manifest his flame abilities normally), and wondered if she’d pushed her brother too far and signed her death warrant.

“Then it’s a good thing I stopped by.” Oleander’s low, wrathful purr hinted of dark places and things (back when she still loved them, back before she knew she’d never be like them, Petunia and Lily always wanted to go to Rivendell or Gondor, but Oleander wanted to fight his way through Mordor or Moria.), his hands cradling Harry like he was more precious then diamonds. “Since I’m family, I can take him in, take the burden,” his lips, painted like some dockside whore’s, sneered the word at her. “Off of you, Petunia. You’ll inform the authorities and send me the paperwork of course. So nice to see you again.” Before Petunia could say anything else, Oleander swept out of the house with Harry, leaving her wondering where she’d even send the paperwork to, and what that freak Dumbledore would say when he found out.

* *

Oleander got seven miles out of the suburban horror Petunia lived in before his flames stopped fueling his temper enough for him to realize what he’d done. He pulled his bike over and looked down at the toddler he’d ad hoc strapped to his chest. Said toddler had fallen asleep and was drooling on Oleander’s bike suit. Oleander pulled off his helmet and ran shaking fingers through his hair. He was in possession of a baby. A baby that was not biologically his, and now that he came to think of it Oleander hadn’t even gotten the baby’s name. Something had just snapped in his flames and he’d basically kidnapped his nephew. Because Lily was dead. It hit him about then and Oleander sank to his knees in rubbish strewn weeds, cradling his nephew closer as a grieving howl tore from him. The baby started but didn’t wake up, and Oleander didn’t allow himself the luxury of another noise, just rocking the baby back and forth while he wept.

“Sir, is there a problem?” Oleander jerked in surprise, then gave the sheriff who’d stopped a watery smile. 

“No, no sir. I just found out one of my sister’s died and my other sister didn’t want to take in our nephew, and it just… it just…” The sheriff gave him an understanding smile, handing him a Kleenex.

“Bit much for a young man to take in, understandable. Smart of you to pull over to have the breakdown, courageous of you to do the right thing and take the little tyke in. What’s the little fellow’s name?” Oleander considered panicking at the question, then went with first thing that came to mind, since Lily’d always joked about a normal baby name.

“Harry, Harry de Mort in a few days.” The sheriff chuckled.

“Poor kid, ought to change his first name while you’re adopting him.” Oleander looked down at the sleeping baby and smiled.

“Yeah. Yeah I’ll do that.”

* *

A year and an offer of a strange job later, Skull de Mort, having fully shed the name of Oleander Evans, looked in horror at his chubby, useless hands. While the rest were cursing up a storm about their losses, his mind was racing. Luce stepped forward, presumably to comfort him and Skull stepped back. She was not his Sky, would not have been even if she hadn’t betrayed him, and Skull wanted nothing from her. Nor from the others, who saw him as weak, disposable, a lackey. His mind kept coming back to one thought.

_‘How am I going to keep Hadrian safe and look after him now?’_

He was going to find that asshole in the iron hat and kick his ass.


	2. I'm Just a Man Who Needed Someone and Somewhere to Hide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Skull has problems, Verde discovers what a terror a tiny Sky can be, and shit begins to hit the fan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-reading KHR for bits of this, Kawahira is such a perfect example of 'the ends justify the means'. Because he was either waiting until the last minute to switch Arcobaleno (which the Ten Year Bazooka disqualifies) or he was getting rid of them when they became too troublesome (though why the fuck he thought Tsuna and co would be good OBEDIENT Arcobaleno is beyond me). He went from getting willing people, because it's at least heavily implied the first several generations of Arcobaleno were willing to take up the burdens, for the position to hijacking the strongest flames, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's the reason strong Sky flames are rare. Reborn's lot went through THREE Skys, and we have no way of knowing if they were an average Arcobaleno generation or not. Yeah, Kawahira is definitely a dick. Luce... well on the one hand she had pressure in the form of 'the world will end' on the other hand she had to at least strongly suspect that the next Sky Arcobaleno would be her own child and she went ahead and condemned not only herself but her daughter and granddaughter to being sheep for the slaughter. Not her most sterling moment, I'm sure. And let's not even go into how OOC Skull is in cannon for a Cloud. With the character traits that Amano detailed for Clouds Skull, civilian or not, should either have fought back a hell of a lot harder against how he was treated or been 'fuck this and fuck you, I don't do chained and bound' and left the other Arcobaleno ages ago.

Skull was determined that he wasn’t going to go crawling (possibly literally if he couldn’t get used to his stubby toddler legs) to Luce for help, but he was running out of options. His apartment was furnished around a six-foot young adult man and a two and a half year old. Which meant he’d fucking baby proofed everything with stuff he knew worked. This had been a good idea when he needed to keep Hadrian from eating his lipsticks or drinking bleach. Now that he was four to five feet shorter and his fingers were useless little stubs that could barely grasp a crayon, his life was hell. So was Hadrian’s, and unlike Skull he actually WAS two. Skull winced as a building block bounced off his cheek, though there was no pain. The only benefit of his current size seemed to be that his flames responded even faster. Hadrian sat on the floor, looking disgruntled and filthy.

“HUNGRY! FOOD, FOOD NOW!” Skull was tempted to throw a tantrum himself. He couldn’t get to a good portion of his and Hadrian’s foods, couldn’t cook some of them because his implements were meant for adult hands. He couldn’t get to Hadrian’s diapers, couldn’t safely get either of them into or out of the tub. The nearest store was too far away for small legs, and he couldn’t drive. It was all just too much, but Skull wasn’t going to let that simpering trickster Sky Luce anywhere near his real Sky. She might hurt Hadrian. But at this rate, he was going to do that accidentally. He had no other choices, no other options and he could all but feel the chain collar at his throat and muzzle around his mouth. Skull just sat there and terrified Hadrian when he began to bawl as well.

* *

Verde would say if he was asked that this was an experiment. In no way did he feel sorry for the know-nothing civilian that Luce had corralled into being the Arcobaleno’s Cloud. The loud, shifty, annoying, backwards uneducated brute whose sole means of livelihood was performing insane stunts on his bike. (Verde would never admit to going with a man he had considered as a potential Sky to one of Skull’s shows, watching the youth ride through a veritable field of moving helicopter blades. Or that he had held his breath because he’d seen the one rotor slash across Skull’s throat, just the barest edge of it but enough to cut. He certainly had not slumped in shock when the barest flicker of screamingly pure Cloud flames had sewn Skull’s pale skin shut before the blood could spurt out. And his rejection of that Sky certainly had nothing to do with the brief moment that tyrian purple eyes looked at the man and flicked away in a clear dismissal. If the man couldn’t persuade the Cloud, he certainly wasn’t good enough for the Lightning.) Luce had unofficially ordered him to make sure all the Arcobaleno had what they needed for day to day life, and he was simply getting the civilian out of the way first so the damned fool didn’t stick a fork in an electrical socket or something.

Though were there supposed to be two babies bawling in there?

“No cwy, Unc Skull, no Cwy! Hadri sowwy!” Verde blinked, processing what he was hearing. Was there seriously (‘loading, loading, not loading, glitching?’ went the computer screen of his mind) another toddler in Skull’s apartment? An actual toddler, not another of the Cursed? From the sounds of it, there was. Dear God in heaven, how had they missed this? How had Viper missed this? Never mind Viper, how had RENATO missed that their civilian had a child? A child he’d been trying to take care of under a curse for three days now. Verde suddenly felt like scum. He knocked on the door; listening to both sets of sobs trail off, and waited. After a bit, Skull pushed the door open, eyes narrowing.

“What are you doing here? Come to laugh at the civilian idiot?” Skull then froze unblinking as another small form pushed past his. Verde shuddered (and no he would not have to change himself later or discreetly congratulate himself on wearing disposable underpants because of the size of a two year olds bladder) as he was abruptly reminded that civilian Skull might be but he was still a Cloud as the true toddler approached him. The boy (surely not Skull’s own, Luce wouldn’t pick a single father… wait, looking at what she’d done to herself, Verde could believe she would. How she was going to deliver that baby was going to be a medical nightmare.) then stuck his face in Verde’s, innocent eyes blinking slightly blearily at him (did Skull not realize the child needed lenses?). Skull remained tense, his whole posture relaying ‘Cloud that is about to go apeshit’ as the little one reached out for Verde’s hand. 

The light touch told Verde everything. He’d thought Skull was being a truly arrogant Cloud for not harmonizing with a Sky as strong as Luce. The bright (almost addictingly so, if Verde wasn’t harmonized at the moment the boy might drag him in and even being Luce’s Lightning it was hard to tell this Sky no.) little Sky had Skull’s Clouds woven protectively around every vulnerable and fragile spot on him, nurturing the already phenomenal strength of his flames. Compared to the potential the boy had as a Sky, Luce was reduced to a still appealing but distinct second choice. The boy tugged on Verde’s hand, eyes wide and pleading.

“Help Hadri? Help Unc Skull? Pwease?” Verde struggled to breathe for a second with that much Harmony pressing against his Lightning. The pressure stopped when Skull smacked the boy lightly across the diaper.

“Hadrian! I’ve told you before, that’s not nice! He has a Sky. Even if he didn’t, it’s bad to force people’s flames to yours.” Hadrian pouted at Skull while Verde finished regaining his equilibrium, and then looked back at Verde again.

“Sowwy. Hadri no mean push.” Verde mumbled an acceptance as Skull herded the boy back into the apartment. When Skull looked back at him, Verde gestured to the workers he’d hired.

“I apologize, it took a few days to figure out ways for us to have access to necessities such as the stove and fridge. Will you allow me to have them set up your apartment?” Skull looked at Verde consideringly.

“Depends, is Luce going to hear about Hadrian?” Skull’s tones promised pain if she was. Verde shook his head.

“If Luce didn’t do her research before choosing, I am hardly going to correct her.” Not when Skull would do something so very stereotypically Cloud like grab his little one and run for America. Or attempt to take on the whole of Luce’s Famiglia and the mafia to keep Hadrian safe. No, far better to keep track of the Cloud, and keep his mouth shut.

Besides, someone had to make sure the bright little thing didn’t turn into an uneducated grunt like Skull.

* *

At four, Hadrian was a big boy.

He understood things, like why the sky was blue (even if Uncle Verde’s big long explanation was clearly wrong and Uncle Skull’s short ‘because God liked that color.’ was right), why his flames were not the same as his Uncles, and that his Uncle was Cursed.

Someday when he grew up Hadrian was going to break the Curse so his Uncle and the others afflicted by it could be real grown ups again.

It wasn’t right that he was bigger then his Uncle, when he could vaguely remember his Uncle being bigger then him. He hadn’t known Uncle Verde before he was Cursed, but he’d bet that Verde had been grown up too. He and Uncle Skull didn’t talk a thing like Mrs. Colombo’s toddler. So Hadrian was going to find the person they thought he didn’t know about and beat him up until he broke the Curse. It should be easy when he was big. How hard could it be to find a man with an iron hat on his head?

“Hadrian! Don’t get so far ahead!” Hadrian turned to run back to his beloved Uncle and ran into someone’s leg. He looked up at the man, and wasn’t he a funny man, wearing a bathrobe in public! The man looked down at Hadrian, focusing on his bolt scar, outlined with green facepaint today because Uncle Skull could never resist it when Hadrian wanted to be flashy like him. Then he grinned, but it wasn’t a nice one like Mister Ricci’s. It was cold and greedy and it made the thing in the back of Hadrian’s head that Verde said was supposed to be his intuition go off.

“Harry Potter.” Hadrian frowned.

“Not me. I’m Hadrian de Mort, don’t know a Harry.” Though some people tried to call him that, before Uncle Verde used the ‘you don’t have a brain even close to mine’ voice on them. The man grabbed his arm, hard and started dragging him away. Hadrian heard Uncle Skull start yelling, when the man turned and pointed a stick back at him.

“Confringo!” Hadrian screamed as a blast of something hit Skull and exploded, flinging him away with a horrible smell like when Uncle Verde’d burned hamburgers and leaving him limp and still on the street. He kept screaming while the man swore at him because this wasn’t possible! Uncle Skull didn’t get hurt, his flames didn’t let that happen! Hadrian kept screaming right up until the man pointed the evil stick at him.

“Stupefy!”

And everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why hi there Mister Cliffhanger, how lovely to see you. *Hides before pitchforks and torches show.*


	3. The Smallest Child Can Hold A Universe Within His Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skull may be laid back for a Cloud, but that makes the rampages that much more terrifying.

_There was fire in his lungs._

_(So his flame multiplied his blood to drown it then shoved it back into his veins.)_

_A hole in his trachea was making it hard to breathe._

_(Stem cells were propagated en masse, used to remake flesh and patch it so he could breathe, even if his still damaged voice box wouldn’t let him announce his fury to the heavens.)_

_His eyes were burned shut._

_(A bare trickle of flame went towards forcing one of them open again. He didn’t need both eyes to hunt, to MURDER the fools who took his Sky.)_

_He needed to push himself upright and MOVE._

_(There was a ring, crafted of precious materials disguised as cheap ones, two little fake ‘gems’ that were Cloud and Lightning on his Sky’s finger, and it had not gone far.)_

_In a distant way, he knew he should be in agony._

_(His Will has shut down his nerve ends, flooded his body with every natural pain blocker it can come up with. He has not been this hurt in years, quite possibly not since the day Death and his flames clashed in his body and his flames came out the victor.)_

_His voice healed, and the high pitched hunting SHRIEK of an enraged and unreasonable Cloud cleared the streets of all but the Flames he could feel behind him._

_(While he may not have LIKED most of them, his flames still recognized some of his fellow Arcobaleno and tolerated them. He forced his still broken body upright and into what most would view as a childish parody of a Cloud’s hunting lope. It would be the flames that poured off him that marked him as real and deadly.)_

_His mind was clear of distractions, focused on one thing, as it had been when he flipped and swerved his way through the death trap stunts that earned him his title of ‘the man hated by Death’._

_(He was a Cloud, for all his fellow Cursed’s mockery, and murderous rage was something he could do very, VERY well.)_

* *

While Renato loved Chaos it was a fickle love, as many of his were. To be more precise, he loved Chaos when he was causing it, when he knew precisely what he was doing with it. When he was not causing it, when he was the one caught in by an unexpected variable however…

It was not so beloved.

His day started out normally, or as normal as it could under the curse of the rainbow. He got up, stared at still stubby hands, spent a few brief seconds envisioning the being they’d come to call Checker Face’s demise (this morning it had been a scheme of Rube Goldberg proportions, though finding that much half set lime Jello was probably impossible), then got on with his day. Until Luce wanted him to fetch Skull for something. Skull, the civilian, useless Arcobaleno. Skull, who Renato couldn’t for the life of him figure out why the Vindice or a famiglia hadn’t abducted years ago.

(Far away, Bermuda both sneezed and shuddered, remembering a latent Sun that was terrifying, and cursing the fact that the red headed witch had gone and birthed a Sky powerful enough to anchor her drifting Cloud of a brother. An unreasonable part of him was sure she’d done it to spite him.)

So he, Fon and Verde had gone looking for their Cloud. It honestly surprised Renato that Verde seemed to have taken to their civilian. Oh, there was bitching about Skull’s ‘tiny mind’ and ‘uneducated brain’. He was fairly certain Verde used Skull as testing grounds for the things he gave the rest of the Arcobaleno, figuring if their civilian could use it and not break it, so could the rest of them. But Verde in contrast to that, seemed to seek their Cloud out and be almost subtly protective of him. Fon didn’t seem to care one way or the other, though he’d made a few comments as to the foolishness and cruelty of bringing an ‘innocent’ into their way of life.

Still, it had poleaxed Renato to turn the corner and find Skull trying to lift himself upright while his flames repaired his face and upper body (and damn-it-all Cloud flames were not supposed to work like that, Activation was his flame trait even if Renato had a bad tendency to be ass-backwards with it and be absolute pants at healing). One violet eye finally wrenched itself open, wide and staring and Renato knew what that blown pupil and unholy shine meant even before Skull’s flames sorted his body out enough for a maddened scream.

Funny how not civilian Skull suddenly was when he was in the grip of murderous fury. And then the Cloud was up and moving, more a stagger at first, but it smoothed out as his flames finished knitting him back together. It would almost be cute, if it weren’t for the raging Dying Will flames and the fact that two year olds were not meant to move like that (Renato could almost see the flippant adult form overlaid on the cursed one, and Adult Skull would not look cute or false in a Cloud’s rage. He would look like Death made flesh. Frightening, implacable, and with that erotic undertone that made so many people uncomfortable around him). Skull, to Renato’s surprise, obeyed typical Cloud fury and went straight for what had pissed him off, even if there were fences, cars, and bystanders in his road. Though given that it was a mafia neighborhood, most ‘bystanders’ took one look at frothing purple and dove for cover, screaming for God at the top of their lungs. Funny how rampaging Clouds cleared an area faster then a fire alarm.

Skull rounded the corner, eyes fixed on a man in a black robe (really, given some famiglia’s uniforms it wasn’t that unusual), who was pointing of all things a STICK at the Cloud. Skull didn’t even slow down, flames beginning to condense and solidify.

“Bombarda!” Energy that wasn’t dying will gathered and launched out in an explosion of force. Renato hesitated (and he could almost see the ‘404 Error, file not found’ blue screen of death on Verde’s face at what seemed to be real magic), but it didn’t even seem to phase Skull at all. Purple flame finished twisting, hardened to black chains, the links baroque with patterns of death. The Cloud lashed out, cutting through the stick and wrapping the chain about the man’s throat. A hard tug, flames forcing muscle to stand out in a garish, almost body builder way, and the crack of bone breaking was heard before Skull used his flames to fling the body through the door. The second fool died far more spectacularly, as Skull merely brushed a hand against him on the way past and to Renato’s best guess propagated the poor bastard’s blood so rapidly it blew flesh apart and away from bone.

Really, from what Renato could tell the rest of them were superfluous in the wake of the Cloud’s rampage (perhaps they should re-evaluate which of them was actually the weakest Arcobaleno. There seemed to have been a mistake in there somewhere) through these fools. Then there was a second where even Skull’s Clouds went quiet, followed by the choking roil of absolutely terrified Sky flames that flattened Verde, staggered Fon and caused Renato to swear. His eyes snapped to the last robed fool who was forcing the tip of his stick to the throat of a four year old child. The boy’s eyes (wide enough Renato could see the green of them from there, this Sky had eyes the color of Lightning flame) were fear filled, and one small hand reached for Skull, who was screaming in impotent fury.

“Uncle!” Renato’s brain froze, trying to wrap around the idea (he was going to have a talk with Luce, if she’d known about this there would be WORDS) that Skull had family, but his body reacted on trained instinct. Leon slid into his hand, morphed into a gun even baby fingers could pull the trigger on.

“That’s right Muggle, one step and…” Bring the Leon gun up, sight, and oh so gently squeeze. No deafening crack since Leon had formed a silencer as well. A quarter sized hole appeared in the idiot’s forehead and the back of his head ceased to exist as his brain painted the walls. The corpse dropped the boy as it fell, who scrambled to Skull as the Cloud’s flames cut out so he could do his best in his cursed form to offer comfort. After a few moments of babble (“See, they’re all dead, they won’t EVER come near you again Hadrian, I promise.”), the boy shakily pushed himself away from Skull to come over to Renato. The Sky flames around the boy (ringed by Skull’s Cloud’s no wonder Luce had never harmonized with him and was that bits of Verde’s Lightning as a kind of ‘if something happens to my current Sky I’m picking this one so all other Lightning’s fuck off’ marker?) had calmed considerably, and were surprisingly deep and calm for his age.

‘Note to self’ Renato thought, ‘kill Checker Face if he comes anywhere near this little Sky. Painfully.’

“I’m Hadrian, thank you for helping Uncle Skull save me!” And it was hugging him. Hugging. Him. Renato could hear Fon snickering. He glared over at Skull, who gave him a slightly sheepish look.

“You’ve got explaining to do, Lackey.”

~~Bonus Omake~~

Bermuda had found the boy by accident.

Tracking a lawbreaker to England, he had wondered what had caused the man to stop in a family neighborhood where he stuck out just as much as the Vindice. Then the slow, lazy roil of Cloud flame had drifted against Bermuda’s Hate, snapping away at the contact as if slapped. As soon as he had dealt with the mafioso fool, he had taken Jaeger to seek the contact out.

He had not expected the potential Arcobaleno to be ten. Nor with a Cloud’s restless aggression singing through him to be completely unscarred. Something fae, strange for a Cloud (too pretty, too unusual, too powerful, why have none broken or murdered this Skyless Cloud?) in his motions as he played with a little girl. The Cloud ignored them, and Bermuda wondered how hard the boy would fight when they stole him.

All of a sudden he felt the vines around him (no illusion, something else), wrap and warp and a serpent of living plants bared dripping fangs. He heard Jaeger grunt in surprise, and then blinked behind his bandages as another child, no she had to be a teenager, stepped into his sight. Her sunset hair fell wild, and green eyes behind which a lake of untapped Sun flame lay narrowed at him.

“Stay away from my brother. He’s not yours.” Bermuda had to give her credit, she had will, even if it wasn’t Dying Will.

“Do you truly think you can protect him from himself?” The girl tilted her chin up.

“As long as I live.” Bermuda chuckled amusedly. The girl jerked along with the boy as a shrill voice rang out.

“Lily! Oleander! Mum says come home NOW!” The girl backed away from them as the Cloud ran off, not looking away until she absolutely had to before vanishing from sight as well. The remnants of Bermuda’s intuition whispered to him as the plant life around him reverted from being a beast. The girl was not going to live much more then a decade longer if he was correct, then the Cloud would be alone and vulnerable. He could wait.

After all, there was no Sky yet born strong enough to hold such a Cloud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The omake came about because I wanted an idea of HOW a Cloud as powerful as Skull didn't get picked up and indoctrinated/killed early but couldn't quite figure out how to work it into the series as a whole. Hope people like it!


	4. Dark Visions in Daylight, Nightmares Through the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Skull and Fon somewhat bond over the fact that Skull needs to wake up and smell the coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this chapter went from 'the rest of the arcobaleno meeting Hadrian and finding out things about Skull' to 'Fon and Skull have a brief interlude before that shit hits the fan'. I'm blaming Fon, he decided he needed to take up this chapter in recompense for having such a small part in the last one.

Skull was fairly certain he wasn’t made for this kind of stress.

Renato and Verde had gone off to collect the rest of the Arcobaleno (and Luce had wanted him for something, why oh why did Skull not like that?), leaving Fon with him and Hadrian. Well, it was tactically sound because Skull wasn’t sure he had it in him to rage like that again. Oh flame-wise he could probably pull off another one, but mentally he was exhausted. That, and Hadrian had already been terrorized once that day. He certainly didn’t need a second round.

“I was unaware you were a caretaker for a child, Skull. Is he your son?” Fon at least seemed to be taking this well. Verde was most likely going to have a great deal of trouble with the idea of magic (how the hell Verde’s little scientist death-trap of a brain dealt with dying will flames was not something Skull was privy to, nor did he ever wish to be), while Renato was no doubt going to put the fear of him into some poor smuck who hadn’t kept him well informed. Viper would undoubtedly charge Skull for not informing him of Hadrian’s existence. How Luce reacted was going to tell him if she’d known of Hadrian’s existence when she baited Skull and the others into the curse, and Skull would bet money to Viper that Lal and Colonnello would say he was unfit to raise Hadrian. Skull took a deep breath to calm himself down, keeping an eye on Hadrian to in case his calm wore off and he started to panic. 

Not that it was hard to do so, Hadrian was doing his best to cling to Skull like a monkey. No doubt seeing Skull actually go down from something when most of Verde’s tests hadn’t dropped him had something to do with it.

“No, my nephew. His mother was my younger older sister. When she and her husband died, my other sister was… less then gracious about taking Hadrian in. So I took over from her.” Fon ‘hmm’ed and they continued on in silence. Skull let them into his apartment, and did a quick check on Hadrian while Fon looked about to familiarize himself with the place’s layout. Satisfied that no harm other than bruises had come to Hadrian, Skull smiled at his nephew.

“Why don’t you go run a bath, Hadrian? Play with Mister Ducky for awhile.” Hadrian’s face lit up with a smile and he bounded for the bathroom and his favorite toy. Fon raised an eyebrow at Skull, who sighed. Hopefully a bath would help Hadrian to remain calm, and it wasn’t like Skull wouldn’t be checking every few minutes. He clambered up the ladder Verde had designed for him so he could get some snacks down, listening to the sounds of running water and Hadrian’s tuneless voice warbling half correct lyrics to songs Skull would listen to. Bless childhood resilience and Sky harmonization; Hadrian seemed to be bouncing back from today already.

Now if Skull could get his hands to stop shaking and that small voice in his head to stop screaming that dear god he’d killed people maybe he could do the same.

An amused snort brought Skull’s attention back to Fon, and he groaned at the papers Fon was holding. Every week like clockwork, Verde left Skull lists. Lists of Verde screened and approved babysitters if Skull had to do something and Verde couldn’t keep Hadrian amused in the labs for a day. Lists of intelligence boosting activities and foods. Lists of Verde approved pre-schools, kindergartens, and grade schools (occasionally middle schools and colleges as well). And the most annoying list of all, lists of mafia families with weak leaders that nobody would mind if an Arcobaleno took them over. Every Monday they showed up, and every Sunday Hadrian giggled and clapped when Skull did his best to shove them up Verde’s nose when the green haired bastard showed up to mooch a Sunday dinner of chicken curry from them. 

“Is there something between you and Verde you two aren’t telling us?” Skull frowned and bounced a bag of marshmallows off of Fon’s head.

“No, Verde’s just made it his mission in life that Hadrian won’t be ‘an uneducated hack carnival sideshow’. Why he keeps trying to get me to take over a family is beyond me.” Fon frowned back at him, looking vaguely annoyed.

“Because you are the most vulnerable of us, Skull. I did NOT say weak,” He overrode the Cloud Arcobaleno as Skull opened his mouth to protest. “But you are the one of us who has not either accepted Luce’s protection or found a family to work with. As far as the families know, you are unharmonized, have little to no knowledge of how to properly wield your flames, and you are atypical for a Cloud in that normally you do not aggressively defend yourself or your territory. How you and Verde have kept Hadrian a secret is beyond me,” (Well, several dozen of Verde’s experiments needed test subjects that could actually be affected by them and not have their Cloud flames chew through what was supposed to be an Arcobaleno level paralytic in two seconds, but Skull wasn’t going to admit to that) “but the older he gets, the more likely it is that someone is going to see him with you, connect the dots, and get away alive to tell others. You are courting disaster, and unlike your disastrous shows at Sidney and Venice, it is not solely you who will be hurt. He is worried for you, so he tries to give you solutions to the problem.” Skull blinked, looking at the lists in a new light. Verde was very much the type to come at anything resembling emotion from a very skewed direction. While he thought on this, Fon opened the marshmallows and munched on a few, looking over Skull’s least favorite list.

“The Caracassa famiglia was renowned a generation or so ago for the Animal Familiars they produced for flame users. Intelligent, well bred, and each familiar carefully matched to each Flame user. They most likely bred Renato’s chameleon Leon for him. The last five years or so they have gone downhill, however. A spoiled grandson took over in a coup, and foolishly believes he can make more money faster by breeding beasts with little use other then roaming around a junkyard biting the pants off of foolish teens. Since it was legal by mafia rules, they can not appeal to the Vindice, but if one of the current arcobaleno were to seize the family for himself, he might save the familiar lines from complete ruin and secure his precious people’s safety at the same time.” Skull chuckled at Fon’s blatant manipulation.

“And the fact his fellow Arcobaleno might get to browse through the familiars looking for one in return for their help securing the family hasn’t crossed both you and Verde’s minds?” Fon smiled a little.

“Perhaps. They had a line of small monkeys that I had always meant to purchase one, but circumstances being what they were never got around to it.” He then yelped as Hadrian bounded out of the bathroom in his towel (not his usual fluffy bathrobe but after today Skull wouldn’t be surprised if Hadrian refused to use one ever again), grabbing the Storm arcobaleno in a hug and soaking him.

“Hug attack!” Hadrian bounded off to his room while Skull laughed at the almost feline indignation on Fon’s face.

At least there was a little calm before the storm of the other Arcobaleno finding out about Skull’s nephew.

~~Bonus Omake~~

Giovanni was a strong Lightning.

So when he’d seen an extremely strong little Sky sitting amongst the other brats in the daycare for Verde’s workers (surprisingly the green haired bastard arcobaleno seemed to figure out that some people were single parents) he’d ignored the fact that someone had left traces of their Lightning as a metaphorical dibs and taken a shot at harmonizing with the kid. He was regretting that now.

“Test subject #2453 seems to be building up a tolerance for those paralytic laxatives, increase the dosage by 50m.” Pure, utter evil chirped, sounding far too happy at the thought.

Seriously, how the fuck was Giovanni supposed to know Verde’s Lightning from any other fuckers?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omake inspired by OpalIstas' question of 'what would Verde do to some idiot who ignored his 'this is going to be mine' markers on Hadrian's flames. Verde is evil, and unrepentant about it.


	5. Interlude 1: And When We Sleep Would You Shelter Me?/In Your Warm and Darkened Grave?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dead man and a dead woman meet and talk, and both feel helpless in different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An Interlude, because this really doesn't work as the start of the next chapter, and these two came wandering in from the frickin' left field closet I'm fairly certain didn't even exist until they needed to use it. *Glares.* Will you lot PLEASE stop derailing the fic now?
> 
> Song to listen to while you're reading this to set the mood: If I Close My Eyes Forever, featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford.

_He walks a path trod by few now._

_The town is small, insular, and few are out as the witching bells ring. The few that are out either do not see him (still wrapped in the idea that life will never end for them) or resolutely turn their eyes away from him._

_Some of them break their laws, and his chains ITCH to wrap around them and drag them away, his lips to speak their sins. But this is not his place, it never has been. He is not their nightmare, the demon in the dark that they must not gain the attention of. He has no right here to be impartial judge and jury and jailer._

_He is Vindice, but they are not mafia._

_He walks to a ruin, cracked and rotted lips curling in a sneer behind his wrappings. They do them no honor, leaving the house to rot. Three died here, not two as is so commonly thought, but the man’s Storm dissipated almost immediately and the third was barely even the potential of a flame._

_He is struck by the thought that the third would have been a Sun like its mother, though how he knows that is beyond him._

_The husband and unborn are gone, but the wife lingers. Not in the normal way of her kind, not a witch-ghost, but she lingers. He had found that out by accident, though he does not know if only he can see her or if any Vindice would. This night she walks where the nursery door once was, her delicate hands touching the broken walls and petite feet stepping where floorboards had once been ignoring the rot and loss of years. She looks up and smiles at him, a far cry from the wary teen he had first met with his Master._

_He does not look forward to what he has to tell her._

_“Jaeger, what brings the greatest warrior of the Vindice to a haunt’s grounds? Unless you missed me?” He does not respond with his usual biting wit, and she stops dead over a gaping hole in the floor, staring._

_“Jaeger…” She murmurs his name, arms clenched to her chest to ward off the chill she can not feel. He does not want to tell her. He must. She can do nothing, and it is cruel to tell her, but he is a creature of law and judgment. A horror formed of despair and betrayal and the agonizing loss of his flames (how ironic that they had been Storm like the man she had married)._

_“I have told you that Oleander became Arcobaleno.” He draws in an unneeded breath to steady himself. “This day, certain actions he has taken under the Curse lead me to believe when the next Fated Day arrives he will become Vindice.”_

_(Flames compressing, forming a battle weapon is not uncommon. But all who have become Vindice manifest that first weapon as chains, even if they never do again. He would not think it would be her brother, with his Cloud flames so threaded through his flesh, but her family has made a habit of surprising him.)_

_“No.” She still stands there, eyes narrowed, as fierce in her death as she was in her life. “No. You can not. You WILL not.” He does not respond to this, and she screams at him, the scorching fury of a solar storm._

_“GET OUT!” She can do nothing, but he goes anyway. He will come back, both he and she know it, but for now she wants nothing to do with him and the news he has brought her._

_So he leaves Lily Potter to her lonely walk._

_For she that walks there, walks alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now have head-cannon about just what marks potential Vindice out from the rest of the Arcobaleno of their gen. Thanks for volunteering for the undead squad Skull...


	6. Vengeance is What I Believe In, I Don't Get Mad, I Get Even

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which several Arcobaleno are clued in, Viper stands too close to Hadrian for Skull's comfort, and bribes are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, at least I got them all in the same place, though Skull's explanations of magic and such are still underway.
> 
> In answer to a few reviews from the interlude, I went with chains as Skull's flame weapon originally because of the biker/stuntman thing he's got going, the Skull-is-a-possible-Vindice bit actually crossed my mind during manga re-reading.

“Did you know?”

The first words out of Renato’s mouth when he returned with Verde and without Fon and Skull confused Luce. She had asked them to retrieve the Cloud Arcobaleno (not her Cloud no matter how she tried his flames ducked and shied away from hers and she would not FORCE him, it was not her way) for a mission where his bright and flamboyant personality would be of use. It was also a subtle way to drive home that the mafia, the underworld was his home now; no matter how much he disliked it.

“Know what, Renato? Is something wrong with Skull?” The Cloud had always been hard for her to see, the only clear point of him that he would be there on the Fated Day with the rest of them. Otherwise his flames made him frustratingly opaque to her sight. Renato was giving her an incredulous look, which suggested whatever had happened was important.

“You don’t. You honestly don’t know what I’m talking about. How could you not?” He sounded both frustrated and angry. Luce raised her hands in a gesture of appeasement.

“Renato, please. I can’t read your mind, and Skull like Viper has always been… difficult for my sight to catch more then a glimpse of. What have I missed?” Verde was the one who answered her, and his words shocked her, as well as Lal and Colonnello who had wandered in to see what was going on.

“What you’ve missed Luce, is that Skull has a four year old nephew he was raising since before the curse. A nephew that happens to be a Sky, Skull’s Sky to be specific. I am not privy to all the details, but he has made it clear his only other surviving relative was abusing the boy when he found him. And I, like Renato am shocked and appalled that you have drug what amounts to a single father into this mess.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “I have been trying to convince Skull to secure protection for both himself and young Hadrian, but he has proven to be very typically Cloud in his stubbornness.” 

Luce sat back in her chair, head reeling as she tried to process what Verde had said. Skull had a child? A Sky child? Things seemed to fall into place with little clicks. His flames refusal of hers (not just that she was trying to harmonize with him and he wasn’t interested, but that he was already harmonized and she was poaching), the times he’d shown up late to meetings, left early or blown them off completely (babysitters taking their own sweet time or canceling at the last minute), how frazzled he often seemed (toddlers and their insatiable curiosity and suicidal tendencies without an adult around to make sure that curiosity wasn’t the death of them). Lal merely frowned a little, but Colonnello opened his big mouth and stuck his feet in it and his anti tank rifle for good measure.

“Some fool actually let the Lackey take care of a kid, kora? I’m surprised the poor thing’s still alive.” There was a blinding flash of Lightning flame, and to Luce and Lal’s surprise Verde had his hand about Colonnello’s throat, somehow using his hardening properties to shield himself from the tranquility the Rain was dumping on him. Renato looked mildly amused at it all and simply murmured, “Chaos.”

“Listen well, Colonnello. Skull is far more capable then any of us gave him credit for at first. He has broken most conventional thought by taking Hadrian in instead of leaving him with his sister. He has more likely then not broken a few laws and had a few papers forged to make it easier to explain how a young, not quite adult man should be given custody of a child over his older housewife sister. He has put Hadrian’s needs above his own the entire time I have seen them interact. And today I have seen him Rage as only a Cloud can when some idiots kidnapped Hadrian. He has been put under non-stop stress, not only from being a single parent but also from us, and civilian or not he has risen to the challenge. So for once in our acquaintance shut that big mouth of yours.” The scientist dropped the ex-COMSUBIN who seemed genuinely shocked at the whole tirade and adjusted his glasses again.

“Now that we have somewhat established things, we should find Viper and relocate to Skull’s demesne. I for one wish to learn just what kind of power those people were using. Renato is under the false impression it had to be magic of some sort. Preposterous, it was clearly some form of energy, perhaps a weaker variation of Dying Will.” Verde swept out of the room to Luce’s bemusement, no doubt looking for Viper. Luce herself stood, making a note in her planner to go through her organization and find out who had been keeping things from her. While Skull had certainly been the most powerful Cloud on the short list Checker Face had mentioned, there had been at least one almost as powerful. Someone, in the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo, had some ‘splaining to do.

And what was that about magic? Verde could believe in flames that were an expression of a person’s willpower when faced with death, but not honest wand waving magic? That man needed to sort out his priorities.

* *

Viper was uncertain of how he should feel on the latest developments.

On the one hand, Luce was paying him in both money and free food to go through her organization and figure out who had neglected to mention that Skull was in charge of a child. This would be cause for satisfaction. On the other hand, he was going to have to spend time and money and go through his own organization for a similar reason. This was cause for annoyance. 

He wrinkled his nose at the Cloud Arcobaleno’s living quarters, which were as civilian as the mafia could get. Verde apparently had a key (another oversight, more time and money wasted on figuring out who had not mentioned the Lightning getting along with the Cloud enough to have access to his home), opening the door and letting them in. The living room was homey, Viper noted to himself, warm colors and well-stuffed chairs. The T.V. was large, currently on and playing some cutesy child friendly movie (the villain doing a song and dance routine about not being a nice guy and something about vengeance and getting even being what he believed in), while the couch was occupied by the small child that was going to cost Viper so much time and money. While the rest stood looking about and Verde went towards the kitchen and the sounds of Skull and Fon talking, Viper wandered over to examine the small drain on financial resources.

The child was cute in a very storybook way that sent tingles of warning through Viper’s head. Sun browned skin that where the sleep-shirt the boy was wearing flopped away from his shoulder turned ivory pale, hair that reminded Viper of kyanite both in color and appearance, far too cute facial features marred only by large glasses and a lightning bolt scar on the boy’s forehead (and something lurked there to Viper’s Mist senses, something nasty that was trying to feed on the boy, held in check only because a portion of the Skull’s Cloud flames seemed to be subconsciously devoted to propagating defenses as fast as the thing ate them). Since the boy’s eyes were closed, Viper had no idea what color they were, but he would bet money they were as fable like as the rest of the child’s appearance. The poor thing practically screamed ‘tragic little hero’.

Then Skull let out a low snarl and Viper abruptly realized he was standing between a nervous, apparently more territorial then he’d thought Cloud and his Sky. Viper wisely decided there was no money to be had in that and moved over to the others.

(He did not deliberately put Colonnello between himself and Skull and would deny to his dying day doing so to anyone who asked, as well as charging them a hefty fine.)

* *

Lal kept her eyes focused on Skull as Viper moved back to the group and away from the boy (Hadrian, Verde had said his name was). It surprised her, the difference in his body language from usual. Instead of the attention seeking and annoying civilian, there stood a restless, predatory Cloud who was not happy at having a large amount of flame users who were bonded to another Sky near his.

(It shows more wisdom then she would have thought he had. His Sky is far too young to fight, and there are enough of them as strong or stronger then him that even Skull’s unusual Cloud flames would not be enough, not without more guardians for the little Sky. There are sadly far too many Skies that would kill a fledgling one to try and take a Cloud as strong as Skull, though for all that she is not a perfect Sky, nor even a good one at times Luce would never resort to killing another Sky to steal his guardian.)

“Skull, please believe me, if I had known…” Luce’s attempt at appeasement went about as well as a turd in a punch bowl.

“Oh, you wouldn’t have tricked Skull-Sama into this if you’d KNOWN?” Third person was never a good sign with Skull. He was either going to blow off something serious or start a fight when he began using it. “Like you exempted yourself because you were pregnant? Skull-Sama isn’t inclined to believe you one little bit.” Hadrian stirred on the couch and whimpered in his sleep, reacting to his Cloud’s temper. Lal watched as Skull took several deep, shuddering breaths to calm himself.

“Never mind, what’s done is done. Even if I wasn’t Arcobaleno now, trying to go back to my old life with the flame users aware of me would be nothing less then suicide. Fon has pointed out to me that every day I refuse to face that fact and refuse to secure a territory or position for myself I put Hadrian in danger.” Lal smiled a little to herself at the Will in those violet eyes. “I have decided that the Caracassa Famiglia needs to be better run. I am offering pick of any willing animal familiars to the rest of you for helping me, though to Renato I can only offer the chaos and amusement that will surely happen when the ‘weak’ and ‘civilian’ Arcobaleno turns a famiglia on its head.” Lal blinked at the generous offer. With her flame shattered it was unlikely she would find a familiar, but Colonnello might. She could see Viper calculating the risk as opposed to the chance at not having to pay for a familiar and figured that would come up in the positive side of his ledger. Luce looked wistful at the thought.

And Verde? Verde had just bounced over to Fon and all out frenched him, causing the Storm to sputter and flail.

“Two years! Two years of beating my head against a Cloud’s stubborn will and you finally get him to cave! Finally! No more worrying, no more having to divert minions to watching them 24/7! I could kiss you again!” Verde then seemed to remember they were all watching, if only from Colonnello’s horrified noise as he straightened his lab coat and attempted to reclaim his dignity.

“However, I would like to know just precisely what those people who kidnapped Hadrian were using, and why they did so.” Skull sighed, looking tired.

“It’s a long story, and there’s something enough like Omerta involved that I’ll have to be careful how I word it. Come and sit at the table and we’ll talk.”

~~Bonus Omake~~

All of the Arcobaleno cursed as some stupid Bovino man threw a screaming tantrum at having missed his (not them) target and began firing the famiglia’s Ten Year Bazooka randomly. Most of the shots missed but to their absolute horror one hit seven year old Hadrian. They held their breaths, wondering what the boy they were all fond of to some degree or other would be like ten years in the future.

“Bloody fuckin’ hell I’d forgotten this happened.” TYL!Hadrian griped leaning on a staff. He looked tired, frazzled, and more then slightly unsteady. With a slow sense of dawning horror he looked back at the Arcobaleno.

And started babbling.

“I swear this is no where near as bad as it looks I promise I’ve got everything under control remember you’ve left me with four, well three and a half, competent Guardians I am nearly adult and I can handle myself PLEASE FOR FUCKING GOD’S SAKE DON’T COME AND TRY TO SAVE MY ASS!” Poof! The time limit was up and a slightly surprised looking regular Hadrian reappeared with a fuzzy scarf and a piece of cake. The Arcobaleno shared a look amongst themselves.

Clearly they would NOT be letting Hadrian out of their sights when he was seventeen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the Ten Year Bazooka, made to seem such a trivial, throw away running gag, then used to create an epic mind fuck arc. Still useful for humor, however.
> 
> The movie playing on the T.V. is The Swan Princess if anyone was curious. Kyanite (https://mycrystalpedia.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/black-kyanite-the-repair-stone/), specifically the black version, is known also known as witches broom, it's basically a poetic way of saying Harry's hair is black and messy.


	7. I Remember the Car You Were Last Seen In, And the Games We Would Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skull talks, and the Arcobaleno listen for the first time.

Colonnello watched Skull as they sat at the table. The purple haired Arcobaleno seemed tired, stressed as he stared into a mug of black tea. Little of the bold and annoying stuntman Colonnello was used to showed. It surprised the blond, that the one they’d all labeled ‘outsider’ hid more then they’d ever thought he could. After a few minutes, Skull started talking.

“I suppose to try to lay a foundation for this, it’s necessary to start as close to the beginning of it as I know.” He took a sip of his tea. “My parents were good, solid, dust-of-the-earth English. Pleasant, drab little brown sparrows whose first child was as normal as them.” Skull chuckled a little, a fond smile on his face.

“Which often left them confused by us. Petunia was normal, Lily and I were clearly not.” He continued, the fond smile still in place. “Too pretty, too vibrant, too different from my earliest memories. Everyone knew, even if no one ever said anything. The Evans’ family, with their normal oldest daughter, their flame haired second daughter and their son with coloring to put flowers to shame. Dad used to say if I’d been a third girl they’d have named me Iris.” Renato interrupted, to Colonnello’s amusement.

“Evans? Yet you claim your last name is de Mort.” Skull looked blank for a moment, then smiled again, this time grim amusement.

“Not just those who have enemies to flee change their names, Renato. To semi-quote the Princess Bride, ‘No one was afraid of the Dread Pirate Wesley’. People paid good money to see loud, brash Skull de Mort do truly insane things on a bike all but guaranteed to blow up on him. Not some English fool with a common, forgettable name.” A hint of slyness crossed his face. “One should remember that a showman gives his targets what they WANT to see, not what’s actually there.” Colonnello shifted a little in his seat, exchanging a look with Lal Mirch and Renato to see if he was the only one abruptly wondering how much Skull had shown them what they wanted and expected to see in the ‘civilian outsider’.

“To get back on track, if our coloring alone wasn’t enough to spark rumors of changelings even in modern rural England, there were other things.” Skull’s tones were breezy, but his grip on his mug had clearly tightened. “I suppose I was the more obvious, the child who could fall out of a tree and clearly break his neck or nearly cut off a hand playing with a grain sickle only for flame to heal him like it had never happened, but Lily had her gifts too.” Skull stopped at their noises, looking confused. “What?”

“Skull, perhaps we’re misunderstanding things, but you seem to be implying you were flame active from a very young age.” Fon’s voice was soft, subdued. Colonnello just felt a little sick to his stomach, in more then one way. The idea of Skull being active and unclaimed that long was part of it. The calm, matter of fact way he mentioned managing to harm himself in ways that would have crippled or killed a normal person was another. Like it didn’t mean anything to him. Skull shrugged, still looking confused.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I don’t remember what woke them up, or if they ever needed waking up, but I’ve always had my flames. I’d guess the only people who could’ve told you if I was born with them or not would have been Mum and Dad, and they died quite a bit back.” He shifted away as Luce made an attempt to reach for his hand. “Besides, by the time we moved to suburbia I’d learned to keep it under wraps. From what I can tell, even the Vindice don’t charge a five year old for breaking Omerta. Just terrify the shit out of them. Not that I ever saw the Vindice ‘til shortly before the shit hit the fan and we came out looking like this.” Viper spoke up, and Colonnello could just hear an undertone of confusion in the Mist Arcobaleno’s voice.

“You had never seen them? What do you mean? And why did they show themselves to you then?” Skull frowned, eyes far away.

“I think I sensed them, once. But it was a long time ago, and I might be misremembering. They just showed before the Fated Day, all oblique warnings that I was ‘no longer an innocent’ and that ‘foolishness would no longer be tolerated’. I have a feeling they thought I knew more then I did about whatever it was they were warning me about.” Skull shrugged, dismissing being personally warned by the Vindice like it was nothing while Renato gaped at him. Colonnello was tempted to put his hands around the Cloud’s neck and strangle him.

“Anyway, back on topic, my familial weirdness. There was me, little flame active no sense of self-preservation me, and Lily. While I’ll admit to being the one trick pony of the family, even if it did have several variations, Lily was the one who could do things that just…” He flailed a hand as if that would help the explanation. “ Lily wanted a white dress and not pink and the color would just change. Hungry and wanted a snack? The neighbor’s apple or hazelnut trees would bloom and then bear fruit and nut out of season. Someone was being nasty to Petunia or me? They’d end up with strange rashes or only capable of squeaking like rats. Not that she was perfect,” Skull added hastily. “She could play some pretty nasty tricks on us herself, like the flowers that would open and close their petals like mouths.” He shuddered a little. “But for all our strangeness, our parents loved us.” He sighed, something wistful in his gaze.

“Shortly after we moved to the suburbs because of our Dad getting a new job, Lily met her first real friend outside of Petunia and me, a boy named Severus. He was like her, but his parents… Lily and I were quick to realize we were lucky our parents loved us in spite of our strange gifts. That we were never beaten, treated as unnatural or unwanted.” Something dark swam beneath the normally cheerful violet in Skull’s eyes. “And we could do nothing save let him hide in our home when his father was raging. If we tried, if our parents tried, things would get started and then a week later no one could remember ever hearing about such a case and Severus’d be right back in that hellhole of a shack.” Skull drained the mug of tea and refilled it.

“Things began to crack when Lily turned eleven. Special school for a special girl, and Petunia, she began to hate. Hate that Lily had those special abilities that meant she got to go to a school that taught her how to use her stronger ones plus other skills and she didn’t. Began to hate that I could heal myself in seconds and she couldn’t. Oh, she was never stupid enough to hit either of us, but words, those can cut to the bone and flame can’t heal that.” Skull’s lips curled in a sneer. “Freak was always a favorite of hers, useless as well.” Colonnello flinched and saw Renato echo it, remembering the times they’d called Skull that. And he’d just smiled at them.

“Lily moved further into that world of theirs, so did Severus. But she began to worry, to tell me I needed to be more careful, to not show my flames to anyone who didn’t already know. Then after a few years, she and Severus had a row during the school year, things were said that neither of them would take back. Lily threw herself into her classes, getting top grades. My eleventh year came and went and no letter. Didn’t bother me, pissed Petunia off because I was clearly a freak that the freaks didn’t want, and Lily seemed a cross between relieved and terrified.” He sighed.

“Then, when I was thirteen and she was seventeen, Lily came home with the absolute prat she’d spent the better part of seven years bitching to me about and his best friend and announced she was marrying him. Him. The guy she told me she wouldn’t give the time of day to. Mum and Dad were happy for her, because he was heir to a family fortune in that world of theirs. Petunia of course hated that fact. Me,” Skull smiled, and Colonnello shivered. That smile would have been far more at home on Renato’s face then Skull’s. “I tried to kick his teeth in. Was doing a pretty good job of it even with his buddy jumping in until Lily pe… made us stop. Scolded us all, then ripped me a new one. I wasn’t being careful enough, was going to get myself hurt. Later I heard the Prat telling Lily that it was okay, he’d held back on me and I’d come around. Needless to say I did NOT attend the wedding.” Skull shuddered.

“Mum and Dad… well they said it didn’t go well. At all. Petunia wouldn’t speak to me about it at all, nor the fat tub of lard she decided to marry to spite Lily, but Mum and Dad told me a little. Something about purity of blood and people marrying animals and then it got nasty. So, probably similar to two rival flame famiglias trying to bury the hatchet with a wedding. After that, Lily…” Skull closed his eyes, looking sad.

“They said she was the brightest of her generation I heard the Prat saying once. Cleverest, most talented, the one who would change so much. And the Prat just seemed to break her like one of the Cavallone’s horses. Put a bit and bridle on her and lead her through paces, left her at home to tend the house for him while he pursued a dangerous career.” Skull sighed again. “Or maybe I just see it that way through the lens of teenage rebellion. I hated him, and then my parents died in a freak car accident and there was no way I was staying with Petunia and her lard ball or trying to put up with Lily’s husband. So I took my share of the inheritance, bought a motorcycle, and literally ran away to join a stunt show.” Colonnello couldn’t help a laugh.

“So you actually did a cliché, kora?” Skull laughed, and a little of the darkness went out of his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah I did. But it was freeing, in ways I’d forgotten. The Great Skull-Sama whom Death hates, being that let me use my flames again. I could run, fly, live for the first time in so long it was intoxicating. “ He smiled at Colonnello, eyes bright. “I may not be what everyone expects of a Cloud, but that is because I spent years restraining myself for people I loved. Years of learning how to blunt my fangs, dull my claws, channel my aggression into what was ‘socially acceptable’ for a boy. I would have kept on that way, no matter how many Skies saw me and came after me, but things changed.” Fon ventured a guess after a moment.

“You missed your sisters.” Skull nodded.

“I went to Petunia, figured I’d at least mend that bridge as best I could and see if she could send me to Lily.” He shuddered dramatically. “I’d forgotten how much I hate suburbia. Ticky-Tacky houses, husbands and wives like something from Camazotz. Ugh. Petunia basically left me in the living room with her sausage roll of a child and what I thought was a pile of rags while she went to deal with something in the kitchen.” Skull’s eyes went so dark they were almost black and the contained roil of angry Cloud flames set them all on edge. “At least I thought it was a rag pile ‘til the brat started kicking and biting it and Hadrian screamed.” Several mugs gave up the ghosts with impressive flares of flame. Skull’s voice dropped to a furious hiss.

“I gave the little brat what was likely the first smack across the ass he’d ever gotten and checked Hadrian. He was so much smaller then Petunia’s son, shoved in cast offs and pinch faced where the little lard ball was so overweight it wasn’t funny. And I could feel him calling, his flames to mine.” For a moment wonder broke through Skull’s rage. “How could I not accept? Blood of my blood, a Sky already strong enough to allow me to wander freely that NEEDED me. It got a little blurry after that, but I know Petunia made it clear that Lily was dead and Petunia didn’t want to deal with a ‘freak’ child. So I took Hadrian with me. Simple as that.” Luce groaned.

“That’s kidnapping Skull.” Skull shrugged.

“Technically. Petty Petunia sent me the papers, and if I had to ask a few contacts to fake what I needed, well that was the price of keeping him safe. I legally changed my name in the process, as well as Hadrian’s, though I used a name that his original could be a nickname for.” Viper gave off a sense of bemusement.

“I will pay you Skull to tell me they didn’t name him Harry.” Skull shrugged

“Sadly, can’t collect there. Good solid normal English name and all that rot. It was a bit of an adjustment, but Hadrian and I were both thriving. Then, of course, came the offer of a ‘job’ and next thing I know I’m trying to take care of a two year old I’m the same size as.” Skull smiled bitterly at Luce’s guilty expression. “If it weren’t for Verde, I’d probably have lost it and Hadrian.” Verde preened a little. Lal spoke up, her expression thoughtful.

“Hadrian is going to have to go to that school, isn’t he?” The rest of the Arcobaleno looked at Skull, who nodded.

“Most likely. However, if they think that means they can steal away my nephew like they did my sister they’ve got another think coming. I will NOT stand by and let them brainwash him like they did her. And if that means I have to get my hands dirty,” For the first time Colonnello saw the flickers of a Cloud’s rage in Skull’s eyes, and was almost sorry for the unsuspecting bastards. “Then I will.”

Silently, the other Arcobaleno made a pact to help him, each for their own reasons.

~~Bonus Omake~~

Bermuda stared.

The wide awake baby Sky nestled against the troublesome Cloud stared back. Then made a noise remarkably like a kitten spitting and tried to smack Bermuda with his tiny flames. Bermuda jumped back to Jaeger’s shoulder in surprise.

“Seriously? That witch-woman went and gave birth to a Sky? One strong enough to pull her brother in already? Seriously?” He ignored Jaeger’s chuckles.

That red headed Sun-witch had done this on purpose, Bermuda was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skull decided to be a Chatty Cathy this chap. At least he covered the basics as best he could.
> 
> Ticky-Tacky houses were cheap prefab houses made after WWII for returning soldiers who were marrying their sweethearts and settling down. Other then paint jobs and furnishings the couple's would buy, they all had the same floor plan and yard space. Skull's 'Husbands and housewives like something from Camazotz' is a reference to Madeline L'Engles' 'A Wrinkle in Time'. One of my childhood favorite books.
> 
> And no, Bermuda, Lily didn't purposefully have a Sky to mess with you. That's just an added bonus.


	8. Come Maiden, Mistress, Mouse, and Hen/ Come Fisher, Farmer, Frog and Wren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper pokes his nose into Skull's past, the Caracassa get overrun, and Mundungus manages to set off Skull's temper without ever meeting him.

Viper didn’t blink as a large wad of bills landed on his desk.

After their discussion at Skull’s, the Arcobaleno had headed back to Luce’s to prepare for the assault they were going to launch. It hadn’t taken Viper too long to prepare, since he rarely had to resort to physical weapons, but he’d known what Renato and the others would pay him for and started searching even before the money hit his desk.

After all, it wasn’t every day that their Cloud revealed enough about himself to possibly track all of his past.

“Skull de Mort, previously Oleander Evans, third born child of Harry and Jasmine Evans.” Viper ignored Colonnello’s loud laughter at Skull’s original name.

“Oleander, the whole plant is highly toxic. Beautiful, but deadly. Rather fitting if you look at it.” Verde murmured, causing Colonnello to choke on his laughter. Viper continued.

“Birth records so no signs of distress, first two years of his life also fairly normal medical files, common infant sicknesses and inoculations. At two years, three months the files go to inoculations only. No mentions of illnesses or wounds after that time. Almost a miracle.” Viper ignored Renato’s rolled eyes. They were all thinking the same thing, that had to be when Skull’s flames manifested strongly enough to start mending any and every bit of damage to his body they could. Viper did spare a moment to wonder how Skull kept his piercings. Then again, he’d never seen the Cloud without them, so maybe he’d just had them done once and never removed them unless it was necessary in the interest of not having to get them redone. 

“Grades are average to fairly bright, early interest in performance and art. A few schools scuffles, the traditional English attempts to shove someone supposedly smaller and weaker then the bullies’ head in the toilet and such. Surprisingly for the bullies it wasn’t Oleander’s head ending up in the toilet.” Colonnello started laughing again, and even Luce chuckled a little at that.

“Records show trouble escalated beginning at thirteen, Oleander choosing to more actively go after known bullies, grades taking slight dips. One teacher’s note from a new teacher shows a disbelief that ‘the purple hair and eyes are natural’ and a demand for Oleander to ‘stop dying his hair and wearing contacts to school’. Aforesaid teacher suspended for assault when he apparently grabbed and tore one of Oleander’s piercings out, charges dropped because of no physical evidence.” Judging by the low growls, the man was might get tracked down and a visit from a few annoyed Arcobaleno. Viper didn’t care; he’d already cleared out the man’s bank accounts. No, no it hadn’t been petty revenge at all; Viper could care less about the other Arcobaleno except as money sources (Viper was never very good at lying to himself when it came to the other Arcobaleno).

“All records stop at sixteen, with the deaths of Harry and Jasmine Evans. Seems our little Cloud found someone willing to do him that favor, probably in exchange for a chunk of his profits. Lily Evans disappears from the system at eleven, reappears listed as deceased at twenty one, one child left with her older sister Petunia Dursley nee Evans. Harry James Potter, who is still listed as officially residing there and the Dursleys seem to get a fairly good sum of child support for him.” Viper’s ears perked up when it was Fon who growled that time. The Chinese Arcobaleno did have a thing about orphan’s being cheated of what was theirs.

“I’ll assume we’re all in agreement, the Dursleys are getting a little visit?” Renato’s voice was smooth as silk, but definitely pissed. Viper moved a chunk of the Arcobaleno’s general cash to the repair budget, marking it as Renato damage. He did murmur his assent, along with the other Arobaleno. Luce then looked over his shoulder and squealed.

“Aww, look at the pictures!” Viper found himself partly squashed by his fellow Arcobaleno, all of whom wanted to see Skull as a little kid. Even though they saw that daily.

There weren’t that many to find, but Viper had managed. A family picture of the whole family where Oleander was nothing but a fluff of purple hair and purple blanket held in his mother’s (there is something familiar in Jasmine Evans’ face, but Viper cannot place it) arms. Another of the three siblings taken when Oleander had to be about five, showing a bright eyed laughing boy, he and his red haired sister indeed looking a little too pretty and perfect next to the dishwater blonde of their sister (it was strange to see Skull without make up or piercings, to know a time when there wasn’t several bits of metal decorating the others face actually existed). The third was of the red haired sister with her arms looped around a man’s neck (presumably this is James Potter, Viper does not hesitate to agree with Skull’s opinion of ‘Prat’.) while thirteen year old Oleander glowers at the man, a Cloud’s rage in his eyes at the man’s possessive hand on his sister’s posterior. The last one is from Skull’s stuntman days, clearly a candid shot taken by a fan. Skull lounged asleep, boots off and jumpsuit partly undone, a peaceful expression on his face. Baby Hadrian was sprawled across his chest, also asleep, one small hand fisted in Skull’s suit. This one seemed to be getting the most cooing from Luce, and even Lal.

(Viper will never admit that picture of Skull and Hadrian in a rare moment of complete peaceful contentment is his favorite as well.)

“You’re all being fined ten thousand euros a piece for squishing me.” Viper groused, which caused his fellow Arcobaleno to remove themselves from his personage. He had just enough time to shut down his computer, hide the money and papers and send a quick note to one of his informants who claimed to have contacts with this society Skull had hinted at before Skull bounded in, looking almost excited at the prospect of damage.

“Left Hadrian with one of Verde’s babysitter-minions, let’s get the show on the road!” Viper would never understand how Skull could be so enthusiastic. 

* *

Angelino Plumeri had despaired.

A minor Rain flame of the Caracassa, when the new Don had taken over he had done his best. But the signor had no respect for the old ways. For the familiars bred with such exquisite care. For lines that had pedigree stretching back as far as the Vongola if not farther in some cases. True, the little ones were expensive, but powerful flames would pay well for companions to help with their power. The generation’s greatest hitman, Renato himself, had paid for a familiar from them! The money they made from such sales, plus the selling of imperfect stock to zoos and petshops had kept the family comfortable enough! But no, that was not enough for Signor Caracassa the newest.

Money over craft, that was his belief.

So many of the dog lineages were ruined, at least two beyond repair. The horses were starting to show damage, as were the great oxen and cattle. Angelino and others had hidden the smaller and the more exotic beasts, but it was only a matter of time before the Don demanded those be overbred and mass produced, turned into things that had no worth save to ignorant fools. There had been rumors of a Ginger Bread prowling the borders of their territory, the witch-doll moving in for the kill on the Caracassa famiglia.

And now there was screaming and shooting and flames flaring and dying and all Angelino could do was hide in one of the rooms and use his small flame to keep the animals calm as they waited for death.

One of the monkeys, little Lichi, began hooting and eeping despite Angelino’s best attempts to calm him. The monkey ran to the door and began pawing at the knob like he was possessed, and Angelino swallowed a lump of fear as the door opened. At first, his mind wondered who had brought a child into the hell that was either a famiglia being destroyed or a coup. Then Lichi shrieked in joy and clambered onto the boy’s shoulder and Angelino spotted the red pacifier around his neck and began to hope. The Storm Arcobaleno smiled at Lichi, looking happy.

“Well, it looks like most of us won’t have to go browsing to find our promised pay for our help. Signor, you can keep these little ones calm?” Angelino nodded, anything to please the Arcobaleno who seemed so happy with Lichi.

“Good, this should be over in about fifteen minutes, once Skull and his new octopus get tired of tossing the ex-Don around. Caracassa belongs to the Cloud Arcobaleno now.” The Storm kept his gentle smile even as Angelino wondered how the other Arcobaleno would run the famiglia. “Expect to wear more purple, and if you would tell the others of your famiglia to calm down. Skull wishes to return Caracassa to its beginning as a provider of fine familiars, not cheap dross.” A distant bellow of ‘Fon!’ reached both of them, the Storm smiling.

“It sounds like I’m needed, another locked door probably. Farewell.” The Storm departed, and Angelino held one of the familiars, a grumpy looking orange kitten from a very strange breeding (he didn’t know what a Kneazle was or where Ezio had gotten one, but the kittens the tom sired were worth their weight in diamond to both Storm and Mist users) and wept with relief into its fur. The long night was over, the Arcobaleno bringing the light of dawn.

He would follow his new Don until he died, Angelino vowed.

* *

Mundungus Fletcher was always on the lookout for a deal. It was his nature, so when one of his contacts wanted books about the magical world, he had a bunch that had been sitting near Florish and Blots ready to be moved. Sure, he’d wondered why the Squib had wanted them, but the man's boss had apparently recently come into a Muggleborn’s life and wanted to know anything and everything so that he and the kids family could be prepared when it was time for the kid to go to Hogwarts. Mundungus had been happy to oblige, both for the huge amount of money he was getting, and the chance to help make sure a young Muggleborn entered their society well adjusted and ready.

Albus would be so proud of him, being civic minded like that.

* *

Skull had not been prepared for the amount of paperwork being in charge of a famiglia would bring, much less one as internally damaged as the Caracassa. The mounds would have dwarfed his natural height, let alone his tiny toddler cursed form. Still, he had a safe base to raise Hadrian as the Caracassa had immediately taken to him, and Oodako was a wonderful combination of familiar, pet, nanny and playground for him and Hadrian. The octopus was currently in his giant form and holding a swing for Hadrian to play on. Skull sighed in relief as he got the last of the paper work for the day done, smiling as the band of white and lavender around Hadrian’s throat reared up and flicked her tongue about to search for danger. The albino king snake had chosen Hadrian as her companion almost at once, so he had his flame familiar to help him, though what the two’s special abilities were was still undetermined.

Skull turned to the pile of books Viper had secured about the wizarding world and picked the top on off the pile, something about an exclusive biography of the Boy-Who-Lived by someone with the horribly pretentious name of Gilderoy Lockhart.

He read three pages, and then lost his temper.

Hadrian looked up as the windows to Uncle Skull’s office shattered with the force of Cloud flames hitting them, blinking as his Uncle’s voice rose up in utter fury.

“VIPER! I WANT SOMEBODY’S BANK ACCOUNT EMPTIED NOW!”

Hadrian giggled, yup just a normal day in his life that he wouldn’t trade for anything.

~~Bonus Omake~~

The enemies lay slain, an Renato elegantly flicked his sword clean and checked his gun. Perfect, both of them. He headed for the extraction point, perfectly happy with his haul.

“Gotcha.” Was the last thing he heard as a chain link whip flicked around his throat and pulled tight.

Lal put her hands over Hadrian’s ears as cursing erupted from the living room.

“Skull you little motherfucker, how the fuck are you still invading me in Bloodborne!?”

Verde meanwhile smirked at the fact that Renato still hadn’t figured out it had been child’s play for him to build a device that let Skull invade Renato’s specific game profile as much as he wished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Humorous omake I hope. For fun facts, Renato does a Noble Scion Hunter, while Skull does a Waste of Skin. Which many playing do because the Waste of Skin start allows the most choice in where you put skill points, Skull wouldn't use it as a subtle poke at how the other Arcobaleno thought of him...


	9. Wit Can Bite and Smiles Can Shine/But Not When You Leave Your Teeth Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Arcobaleno proceed to terrorize England part one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone wondered why Petunia was still getting money for Harry even if she didn't have him in the house. In just about every country the welfare systems for both children and elderly are overworked and underfunded where they exist at all, so dear Vernon and Petunia took advantage of that. Look at all the cases where a child or elder has been dead or missing for YEARS and the family kept collecting the money. Some people are just... *disgusted noise.*

It was morning when the seven Arcobaleno arrived in England. Technically. Yes it was pitch black and whatever cheerful morning birds existed weren’t even thinking of cheeping their feathery heads off, but it was still morning. Granted they could have waited until later and a decent hour, but they had a lot to do in jolly old England and only a day to fit it into. That was as long as they were leaving Luce and Hadrian alone together. Knowing Skull’s luck Hadrian would either adopt Luce if any more time then that passed, accidentally kill her in a bizarre way, or start a bitter life long feud.

The boy was just like that.

“So, I gather we’re talking to my dear sister and her lard ball first?” Skull asked around a huge yawn. While normally he was a bit of a night owl, the amount of paperwork had forced him to a day schedule, leaving him a bit sleep deprived. Viper shrugged, a bit of a smile playing across his lips.

“You’re paying me to help you deal with these ‘Goblins’ and put your remaining relative in her place, the order we do it in is entirely up to you.” The tiny Esper floated over to poke at Colonnello who was cleaning his gun. “Do you honestly need to do that?”

“Oi, nothing’s more intimidating then a pretty boy with a huge gun, kora! Well, unless it’s Lal with a tank…” Most of the group snickered at that, and Lal responded with a rude Italian gesture. Skull yawned again, then shrugged.

“Might as well hit Petty Petunia and the lard ball first. It’s dark, Viper’s illusions should make us look adult, and having people break in during the time you’re sleeping is fucking terrifying. Besides, I want light when I try to figure out how the hell to get into Diagon Alley.” Renato nodded at Skull’s reasoning, a demonic smile on his lips.

“Well then, let’s go cause Chaos.”

* *

Petunia woke as the little voice in the back of her head SCREAMED at her that Vernon’s idea to keep claiming Harry as a dependent had caught up with them. Her eyes snapped open, to find their bedroom had been invaded. Normally Vernon would have done something about that, but he was currently staring down the barrel of a very, VERY large gun. The blond man holding it seemed vastly amused.

“Ah, the ‘lady’ of the house is awake! I wouldn’t try that, kora.” He chirped cheerfully as Vernon tensed as if to grab the gun. “Despite what my beautiful Lal would say, at this range even a blind man couldn’t miss. And I am not blind.” Petunia jerked a little as a familiar chuckle sounded in response to that.

“No Colonnello, you’re just blond. Almost as bad.” Petunia’s eyes flickered over to where her no-good circus freak of a brother lounged in her reading chair, his violet eyes vastly amused. Beside him stood an elegant looking man dressed in a way that screamed ‘Mafia’ and a heavily robed and hooded person who might have been male, it was hard to tell with the lighting and the clothing. A dark haired woman stood near the blond, her face a cold mask as she stared down at Petunia. Another man, his hair in a long braid that had to mean he was a gay freak stood near the door, dressed like a Chinese martial artist. The door opened and a man with green hair in a lab coat, clearly yet another freak, came in tsking.

“I take back any complaints I’ve ever made about Hadrian’s dietary habits. At least he doesn’t subsist on varying carbonated beverages, candy, and Twinkies.” The blond raised an eyebrow.

“Is that a child or a chemical pudding, kora?” Petunia snarled low in her throat at the implied insult to Dudley, and the man next to Oleander raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“How… interesting. You never said she was a latent Wrath, my friend.” Oleander shot the man a look.

“Consider how little I knew of my own flames before you start throwing stones, Renato. Anyway,” Oleander turned his attention back to her. “Care to explain why you’re still claiming Hadrian and cheating the government?” Vernon chose, unwisely, to speak before Petunia could.

“Why shouldn’t we? Filthy freak was in our house for days, he could have ruined Dudley’s life! Small price to pay, the government helping us get Dudley the things he needs! Not like you rich freak and these other freaks, not even leaving a forwarding address!” Venon shut up as the blond put the barrel of the gun in his mouth. Oleander and the rest of them gave both of them the same disgusted look, the robed one even pulling their hood down to reveal lavender hair and pale gray eyes. Oleander stood up slowly, and Petunia realized Vernon had just burned any connection her sibling cared to keep to her out.

“Hadrian is a loving, adorable child and already one of the best people I know. I thank God I took him because if I’d left him here, you’d either have killed him or ruined him completely. Viper,” he tilted his head towards the robed person. “Has already left a message with the officials that you’ve been lying through your teeth about a housebound disabled child. We’re just here to make a few adjustments to your behavior.” He turned to the mafia wannabe next to him. “Let’s go, Renato. I don’t want to see this.” Most of them left, save for Colonnello, Viper, and the dark haired woman Petunia was assuming was Lal. Viper smiled, something that somehow resembled their namesake.

“This isn’t going to take long, I’m getting paid well enough to make it short and sweet.” And then indigo flames similar to Oleander’s violet but somehow more sinister surrounded him and Petunia and Vernon found themselves with their worst nightmares come to life. Viper curled his lips in disgust at the whimpering pair, throwing in a Mist command for them to actually force the mini lard ball to shape up, fly right, and get back to a healthy weight before he and the two lovebirds left the house.

Ticky Tacky Camazotz suburban kitsch nightmare these people were indeed.

* *

Skull was well aware they made quite a sight in both the non-magical and magical variations of London. Seven vastly different people who somehow screamed ‘danger!’ walking companionably together. They were not normal, no matter how much he once pretended to be, and they knew it. It was actually worse in the magical part, once they managed to find the Leaky Cauldron and get through the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley (Viper used a bit of Mist and flirting on a woman with white hair and gold eyes to convince her that they needed through. Skull had never seen Viper flirt before, and was unaware the greedy Arcobaleno knew how to at all.), even given the unusual people wandering the Alley. They did not fit in, and Skull found himself sneering back at some blond man with his nose high in the air and a stick up his ass. Prat.

Verde seemed to be enjoying himself though.

Their mad scientist had derailed them at a shop for potions ingredients, asking rapid-fire questions about quality and quantity and other things. Well, at least Verde was happy asking questions and not likely to buy out the store. Skull stood tall, basking for a moment in Viper’s illusion that let him feel like he was himself again.

“Oleander. How… surprising to see you here.” And there went everything to hell in a hand basket. Skull met black eyes squarely, noting the sallow skin, pinched face, and general air of discontent and regret around the man who had been Lily’s childhood friend.

“Severus, how pleasant to see you again.” To his surprise, the older man stepped close.

“Don’t tell me where, or how, but swear to me you have Lily’s son and he’s safe.” Skull would have blinked at the demand, but didn’t give himself away.

“I swear by my Dying Will he is as safe as I can make him, and all but my own child by this point.” Severus seemed relieved, using the pots and shelves to shield them from view of everyone but Viper as he flicked his wand out and grabbed Skull’s arm.

“I, Severus Snape, Vow that I will not speak of the man I know as Oleander Evans until Harry Potter is at Hogwarts. I Vow I will not reveal that Harry Potter is with his Uncle, and I Vow that I shall do all I can to help the boy when he comes to Hogwarts. So do I Vow on my magic and my life.” Skull looked at the bands of flame that crawled up his arm and Severus’, watching as his Will tinted them shades of lavender and violet instead of white and red. Severus let go of his arm and the bands vanished, but he could still feel them against his flames if he concentrated. Skull nodded his acceptance of the vows and Severus stepped back from him.

“It was… enlightening to see you again, Oleander. Hopefully we’ll speak again in seven years.” Skull smiled.

“Yeah, if I don’t do something stupid in the meantime.” And they parted ways, Severus to quibble with the shopkeeper over troll livers and Skull to fish Verde away from the bubotubers.

It was good to catch up with old acquaintances.

* *

Griphook was a proud member of the English goblin tribe. His clan was strong, his personal wealth great, and he was skilled enough in diplomacy not to murder most of the idiotic wizards who acted like they were so high-and-mighty above the rest of the magical and gifted races. He was not above taking petty comfort in anything that made the wizards uncomfortable, however.

The lot of not quite mundanes was certainly doing that.

The seven of them moved in a loose formation, clearly aware of where the other’s were at all times. Varying familiars (not pets, Griphook could tell that at a glance) attached or near to their respective human adding to the lot. The very large muggle gun the one man carried like it was a toy seemed to be adding to the general sense of discomfort. Their clothes were a mix of muggle warriors and dangerous people’s, and they seemed amused at the wizards attempts to give them a wide berth. Griphook approved of them, and the fact that the lone female amongst them was not secured in the middle but stood her place in their circle of comrades. They were wolves amongst sheep, and they knew it.

So Griphook went out to steer them away before the whole flock panicked.

“Can I help the Sirs and Lady?” The blond snorted at the last part of that, and the woman reached over and clocked him full force in the back of the head, causing him to stumble and do a lovely face plant. Griphook found himself smiling slightly. Young love was such an amusing sight, and so rare was it to see the female put the male in his place amongst humans. No, they expected her to flutter and twitter like a bird at pretty baubles instead of prove herself strong enough to take care of the young. His attention was drawn as the youngest male (and there was power there, old power and blood enough to tint mortal flesh and bone with its colors and grace, all of them hold the power at least, but only a few of them the blood as well, and it was far weaker in the woman and her lover then in the mystic and the young one) as he cleared his throat.

“My apologies, I don’t know the proper greetings Goblin-San, but I wish to learn some things about the state of my wards funds, and Gringotts is the only place I know of that might tell me.” Griphook felt a bit of surprise that the young human would care that he wasn’t greeting the goblin correctly. It was rare to find respect amongst the humans. He nodded and gestured for them to follow him.

“This way, please. I am Griphook, and for future reference, the correct greeting used in general is ‘may your spoils grow large and your enemies heads hit the floor without you taking a scratch’. And I might add that it is pleasant to see a young human actually concerned with the proprieties instead of assuming our etiquette is the same.” The violet haired youth smiled.

“Thank you, Griphook. My birth name is Oleander, but I prefer Skull for reasons of my own.” The others did not offer their names, but Griphook noticed the robe clad mystic looking about with a slight, feral smile. There was something almost goblin to the man, it appealed to Griphook’s sensibilities. He lead them to a private room, noting with approval that only a few of them sat down, the rest ready for any surprises. Griphook pulled out a small artifact used to detect lies and set it on the desk before seating himself.

“You have stated you wish to know about your wards funds, but you haven’t given us a name, Mister Skull. Would you care to do so now?” Griphook watched the human take a deep, steadying breath.

“My ward goes by the name Hadrian de Mort now, but his original name was Harry James Potter.” The device didn’t make a peep, no indication of a lie.

Well Griphook’s day had just gotten more interesting.

~~Bonus Omake~~

“Auntie Luce?” Luce smiled down at Hadrian.

“Yes, sweetie?” Hadrian looked up at her, a question in his eyes.

“Why do Auntie Lal and Uncle Colonnello disappear sometimes only for Auntie Lal to storm by a while later muttering ‘it still doesn’t work’ under her breath with her clothes all rumpled?” Luce choked on her tea, then carefully patted Hadrian on the head.

“It’s because of the Curse, sweetie.” No way was she going to tell him what they were trying to do.

And she was going to lecture them on being more careful not to try and drive a normal sized tank with Hadrian around. The boy might get ideas that they were up to something else entirely.


	10. Time Is On The Level, Tap Dancing With The Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Arcobaleno terrorize England, part two.

Griphook took out another artifact similar to the first and put it on the desk.

“Could you please repeat that, Mister de Mort.” The purple haired human rolled his eyes but did so. The second lie detector remained as quiet as the first. Griphook sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Complications, there were always complications. He pushed the devices to the side, looking at the humans.

“I apologize for the request for repeat, but far too many people have come through here claiming to have custody of the Boy-Who-Lived for us to take the matter lightly. So far, the devices indicate you honestly believe your ward to be Harry Potter.” The human’s eyes darkened, and Griphook had the sudden feeling of being in the same room as a very angry predator.

“You mean some of that bullshit in Lockhart’s book is true?” Griphook raised an eyebrow.

“If you mean that Harry Potter is famous for defeating the Dark Lord Voldemort when he was a baby, yes that is true. I highly doubt he is being raised by any of Lockhart’s supposed contemporaries, however.” Skull looked back to the mystic, who gave a slight shake of his head.

“I can either bring Luce and Hadrian here or maintain our current forms, not both. And if you want Luce and Hadrian, it’s going to cost you more Skull. You’ve only paid me for two favors that I have already performed or am performing, not three.” Griphook narrowed his eyes at the implication that the lot were fooling him somehow, but another of the group spoke up.

“I’ll pay for the third, Viper. You know I’m good for it, and having Hadrian here will no doubt speed up the process.” The mystic, Viper, nodded slowly.

“You’ve always been good for it, Renato. Very well.” The mystic called up indigo flames about himself, vanishing right in front of Griphook’s surprised eyes. The illusion the mystic had been maintaining broke then as well, allowing him to both feel the curse the humans suffered under and see the forms they had been forced into. Several sets of eyes stared at him as if daring him to say something about the tiny, inconvenient bodies they bore. Griphook said nothing about it at all.

The sense of dangerous predators from them had only increased with the breaking of the illusion, and he was no fool.

The mystic was back, panting heavily, held carefully in the arms of a four year old boy. Another cursed female was with them, and the group somewhat moved into a loose flanking pattern about them. Griphook noted the protective behavior, and the lightning bolt scar on the boy’s forehead. None of the other ‘caretakers’ had ever been able to produce a child who looked even vaguely like young Harry Potter. The boy looked up at him, bright green eyes angry.

“You made Uncle Viper tired!” Viper stirred a little in the boy’s arms, muttering something about familial nicknames and prices, while the new woman just patted him on the hand. Griphook sighed and called for a goblin to bring out a magical signature tester. When it arrived, the lot regarded it with wary suspicion.

“What’s that, kora?” Came from the blond, and Griphook obliged him with an answer.

“We use it to test against a stored record of a person’s magical signature to ensure they are indeed who they say they are and not under polyjuice or a metamorph magus. The young one simply needs to place his hand on it to be read.” The boy came forward to do so, and the artifact studied the boy’s magic, before announcing it a perfect match to Harry James Potter’s. It then told Griphook what of his parent’s vaults and bequests young Harry was allowed access to.

“I see, it appears you are quite correct, Mister de Mort. For your information, the Potter vaults along with James Potter’s Will were ordered legally sealed until young Master Harry’s seventeenth, twenty fifth, and thirty first birthdays, barring his school vault and the trust vault meant to see to his upbringing. The trust vault will of course be transferred to your name now that you have shown to claim it. Lily Evans’ vault and will were not sealed, however. An oversight on someone’s part, perhaps. Would you care for the Will to be read today? We can have it brought here fairly quickly.” Skull nodded, looking grieved.

“Yes, please. I’d like to know what my sister wanted for her son.” Griphook nodded, sending a runner for the document. Now that he thought back, Lily had mentioned a brother a time or two, but talked about her sister far more. If Lily knew or suspected her brother had no magic but did have the blessing of an element, she might not have wanted it spread about. There were still stories that the sacrifice of an element born could restore the power and fertility of a pureblood wizarding line. Complete hogwash, but the risk was there.

The runner came back with the will, and Griphook unsealed it. As he read it, he mused on the irony that even unread, Lily Potter’s wishes had been honored somehow.

“I, Lily Potter nee Evans, being of sound mind and body, do hereby bequeath my worldly assets.” There followed a brief amount of personal things to other people that Griphook would see got to where they were supposed to go if they hadn’t. “To my son Harry I leave my journals and vault, to be used as his guardian sees fit. For my first choice of guardian I nominate Alice Longbottom. If she should be unable, I nominate my brother Oleander Evans. Under no circumstance is my son to go to my sister Petunia Dursley nee Evans.” A low growl from the group suggested that part had not been honored. Griphook looked over the will. “A codicil was added leaving a letter for Mister Evans which will be handed over as soon as we locate it, and a statement that Sirius Black was not in fact their Secret Keeper.” Several blank looks in his direction prompted Griphook to elaborate.

“A Secret Keeper is part of an old charm that renders certain places unfindable and unbreachable unless the Keeper has told a person. It was assumed that Sirius Black was the Potter’s Secret Keeper, and that he betrayed them to Voldemort. He was sentenced to Azkaban without a trial. Do you wish to pursue his release?” The group looked amongst each other, then nodded. Renato spoke up.

“If it can be done without leading to us, yes. Having a home tutor for this world he’s going to enter would help Hadrian immensely.” Griphook nodded.

“Simple enough, we can do an inquiry upon Mister Black’s holdings and pay the right reporters to bring the finding that he had no trial and that evidence supporting that he might not have betrayed the Potters has come to light. However,” Griphook looked at the childish faces with old eyes. “By doing so you will be setting yourselves against powerful men. Men who have their own agendas that might not agree with yours.” The second woman spoke, her squirrel familiar chittering in anger.

“Then let them come. We are the Arcobaleno, the I Prescelti Set, and to defend those who are ours we would fight the Gods themselves.” Her voice held a ring of finality to it.

(In the Department of Mysteries, several prophecies shatter, half a dozen voices calling out across the centuries as people struggle to catch what they say. In Hogwarts, a Seer’s eyes roll back in her head as she utters her own words, all ending the same.

‘ _And Skies of Hope and Love shall Surpass and Encompass the Sky of Despair._ ’)

Griphook felt the power behind her words, felt the gears of the world slowly begin to grind towards an unknown conclusion, and bowed.

“As the Lady wishes. Would young Master Hadrian care to see his vault?” The boy looked over at his uncle, who shrugged and spoke.

“What the hell, might as well see what’s there. How’re we getting there?” Griphook smiled and led them to the travel cart. Most of the group got in looking suspicious. Griphook called out the vault number and held on as the cart took off. There was the usual assortment of yelps, screams and squeals, and two howls of utter glee. Griphook looked back out of the corner of his eye to see Skull and Hadrian grinning madly.

Adrenaline junkies, it figured.

When they got to the vault and Skull and Hadrian were investigating it, Viper approached Griphook. The goblin stared at the Arcobaleno, who stated his purpose.

“I am aware several dozen leeches have decided that making a fortune off of Hadrian is a good idea. I am willing to cut your bank ten percent to keep track of them and when Hadrian turns eleven, confiscate their ill gotten gains back dated to today for him.” Griphook smiled toothily.

“Ten percent is too small. Fifty.” Viper shook his head.

“I will be getting my cut for dealing with this, and I do not wish Hadrian to be cheated of his fair share. Fifteen.” Griphook’s eyes narrowed.

“It would take a lot of time and effort. Forty five.” Viper chuckled.

“Not as much as you are trying to claim. Twenty.” Griphook resisted the urge to laugh.

“Still, it will take time and effort. Forty.” Viper smirked.

“I could move Hadrian’s vaults to the Swiss dwarves, Griphook. Twenty five.” Griphook snickered.

“And we’d fine you through the nose for it. Thirty five.” Viper smiled.

“You could try. Thirty, and limited discretion on how Hadrian’s future funds are invested.” Griphook nodded and held his hand out.

“Agreed, Mister Viper. This seems like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Viper shook his, laughing lightly.

“Indeed, Sir Griphook, indeed.”

* *

Back on the plane, sitting next to Hadrian while he dozed, Skull opened the letter left to him by Lily.

‘ _Dear Oleander,_

_Not a day goes by that I don’t regret your anger at my choice of husband, or the fact that I have hidden things from you, my brother. While James will never be perhaps the wisest or most level headed of men, he is a good man. Still, from what I have learned over the years, he did not leave a good first impression on you. I can only hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me._

_When I came to the wizarding world, it was not only to learn, little brother. Or at least, not to learn what I could do. I wished to know more of your flames, of your gift that seemed so similar to mine but wasn’t. What I found by making nice with the librarian of the time horrified me. Yes, the wizarding world had knowledge of your flames, the blessing of the Clouds as they called them. And the stories of what happened to those blessed by such power sickened me. Pureblood families sacrificing children who showed such gifts, believing that returning that gift to flow of the world would give them power and children in return. Oh, they claimed it was no longer done, and perhaps it isn’t, but I would never give them an easy target. So perhaps it is for the best that you have your life and I have mine and the two interact as little as possible._

_If you are reading this, and I am gone, know that I loved you and my son and husband with all my heart. Take care of my Harry for me, will you?_

_Your loving sister,  
Lily_’

Skull folded the letter back into its envelope and wiped his eyes.

“Yes Lily, I will.”

* *

Meanwhile, in the restroom, Colonnello splashed water on his face and looked in the mirror. His reflection wasn’t particularly helpful. He sighed, looking down at the sink.

“Well, you’ve done it again, Backfire Colonnello. I really should learn to curb my impulses, kora.” He thought back to a few weeks ago, when he’d found out Skull had a nephew and they’d been making plans for the Caracassa.

‘ _Most of the rest had left, Fon still in the kitchen with Skull when the boy on the couch began to whimper in his sleep. Colonnello felt the distressed beginning of a nightmare from what Hadrian had seen, and reacted._

_He’d only meant to brush some Rain, some tranquility across the little Sky so that the child wouldn’t wake up screaming and upset Skull. Colonnello hadn’t stopped to think that he was the Rain Arcobaleno because the ritual had preferred him over Lal. That he had never bonded to Luce as a Rain. He’d only meant to spare Skull and the boy a bit of stress._

_He certainly hadn’t expected his flames to slip into Hadrian’s sky like they’d always been there or the lazy, welcoming curl in his heart and mind that told him he’d harmonized with the child. He really should have known better._

_There was a reason he was Backfire Colonnello. His good deeds always bit him in the ass._ ’

Colonnello looked in the mirror again, wondering how he was going to tell Skull that Hadrian had accepted him as his Rain.

This was going to be a long flight back to Italia.

~~Bonus Omake~~

Lal stormed in, face flushed with embarrassment, and hit Colonnello hard in the back of the head. While he yelped, she snarled at him.

“Whose bright idea was it to claim we were trying to drive a full sized tank as Arcobaleno to Luce to hide our attempts at making out?” Colonnello blinked at her.

“Well, do you really want her to tell Hadrian what we were trying? You might want to remember he wanders around here too, and he actually is a small child.” Colonnello watched Lal sputter, flail, and have a nervous breakdown.

And the tank lie had been all her, not him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, seriously Backfire Colonnello snuck his way into Hadrian's group. My original plan was for three of the Arcobaleno to harmonize with Hadrian, but the third was supposed to be Reborn. Then the next thing I know my Colonnello muse is going 'Er, oops?' and instead of Sun Hadrian picked Rain. I swear I'm going to wall off left field...


	11. You're Unsuited For/The Rage of War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colonnello and Skull talk, Sirius Black is freed, and Viper discovers something under a rock he would really like to put back there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm blaming parts of this and the omake on the song 'To Be a Man' from the Disney Mulan movie. Seriously.

Skull was in the kitchen chopping up vegetables.

Colonnello had decided that he’d done enough moping and hiding since they’d gotten back from England. It was time to confess his accidental Harmonization. Though perhaps he should have remembered it was pot roast night and not found himself in the kitchen with a Cloud and sharp, pointy objects. Skull looked up at him, violet eyes deceivingly mild as he landed a particularly sharp strike on a carrot. Colonnello knew that look.

‘ _Shit. He knows._ ’

“Is there something you’d like to discuss, Colonnello?” Whack, chop, potato split far to neatly for Skull’s usually haphazard nature. “Like say, Harmonizing with my s… nephew and not telling me for months?” Skull’s knuckles had gone white with the force with which he was gripping the knife. The slow building fury in the Cloud almost distracted Colonnello from his verbal almost slip. So Skull thought of Hadrian as more of his son then his nephew anymore did he? Colonnello filed that fact away in his head and backed off, raising his hands placatingly.

“It was an honest accident, kora. I didn’t intend to do so, kora. It’s just… he was going to have a nightmare, I only meant to give him a little tranquility, not harmonize with him. I’ll admit I should have told you but it took me time to come to grips with it, kora.” Colonnello kept his eyes on Skull’s. “I wouldn’t hurt him, kora. You know that.” After a few endless seconds Colonnello saw the fury subside.

“Yes, yes I do. But understand this Colonnello,” For a brief second the fury flared back up in Skull’s eyes. “I don’t care how much stronger you or Renato are then me, Hadrian is MINE to raise, not yours. I won’t let you push him into being a part of the Mafia if he doesn’t want to be.” Colonnello nodded and made his escape, feeling lucky to have escaped with his limbs intact.

Seriously, who would have thought whiny wimpy Skull was a fucking Berserker?

* *

Whump!

Normally within the Arcobaleno household this sound would be from Fon practicing his arts, Lal flinging Colonnello over her shoulder, or Skull practicing stunts. Today however, it was from a just turned six year old falling off of the rope he was trying to climb.

Again.

For the forty seventh time.

Renato looked at Fon and Colonnello. They looked back.

“We’ve got a long way to go, boys.” After all, they only had five years to whip the small child into shape for this school of his. Strong body, strong mind and all of that. It really should have occurred to them that a school for magic was probably not anything like the Mafia school, COMSUBIN training, or the triads. It didn’t. Fortunately for them, little Hadrian was more then willing to learn. It meant Skull was much less likely to kill them for letting his precious baby Sky learn to train himself into the ground.

Whump!

(Hogwarts wouldn’t know what hit it when Hadrian de Mort came.)

* *

For the first time in five years, Sirius Black was a free man.

Someone had finally noticed, had stirred the pot and noticed he’d never had a trial. Someone had paid well to have that fact plastered across the newspapers, to the point the Ministry had been forced to have a public trial for him with veritaserum. He was exonerated, Sirius was free.

He’d barely gotten out before he was hustled into a car and greeted by an older man with an Italian accent.

“Signor Black? I am Angelino Plumeri, I work for the men and women who have secured your freedom for you. They have gone through a lot of trouble, and at least one is a little unhappy with the money it took to do so.” Sirius narrowed his eyes at the man.

“If you work for some Death Eater wannabes…” Angelino threw back his head and laughed.

“I assure you, Signor Black, my employers are far more… efficient then your robed Ku Klux Klan copy cats. They know the value of discretion, of loyalty, of rewarding hard work properly instead of with torture. They are not good, but they are not evil either. Simply… amoral.” Angelino stated calmly, no signs of a fanatic or madman. Sirius had to give the man credit for guts.

“Well, what do your ‘amoral’ lot want with me?” Angelino smiled, and his next sentence was a blow to Sirius’ guts.

“I was told to say to you ‘Lily’s Oleander wants you to come and see her son’ Signor Black.” Sirius remembered Lily’s little brother, all long limbs and steel-toed boots. Oleander hadn’t liked James, but that had been because James had quite frankly handled the boy entirely wrong. He’d had one of his rare pureblood moments and dismissed the non-magical boy as inconsequential. Sirius had also noticed that Oleander had overheard James telling Lily he’d been holding back, and seen the brief flare of purple flame across the boy’s palms where his nails had cut into his skin. An element gifted, one step below the gods of magic and the world, and James had managed to offend the boy.

Sirius had tried, but he hadn’t been able to undo years of Lily talking about James’ stupider moments coupled with a monumentally bad first impression. Oleander was Cloud gifted, even if he was laid back, and one would probably win an argument with a rock before they did with him. Still, he and Sirius had bonded over motorcycles and the need to be free and not chained down. Sirius smiled, dear old Dumbledore had no idea what was coming.

It should be a good show.

“Oleander took Harry? Thank the Gods for that, the Prongslet would have been in horrible shape if he stayed with her sister.” Angelino’s smile became a bit troubled.

“Signor Black, in all fairness I must tell you something before you meet him again. Oleander has…” the man seemed uncertain. “He was chosen for his Clouds along with others to bear a curse. It has caused him several problems, but it has only made him more defensive and protective of young… Harry.” Angelino’s lips didn’t quite curl into a sneer at calling Harry by his name, so Sirius decided to ask.

“He changed the Prongslet’s name? To what? And anything else I should know other then this curse?” Angelino sighed.

“He calls him Hadrian, so Harry is still his name, but the boy is unused to being called by it. Also,” there was a bit of black humor in the man’s eyes. “Not knowing about your recent Dark Lord’s name, he legally changed both their last names to de Mort, and Oleander changed his first name to Skull. Your godson has also acquired quite the extended family of hitmen, information brokers, soldiers, a mad scientist, and a mafia boss.” Sirius blinked as they got out of the car at the airport.

“Well, it could be worse. The Malfoys could have gotten him.” Sirius grinned as he got on the plane.

“So, what does Skull and company want in exchange for getting me out of prison?” Angelino’s next words were honey on top of the cake of getting to see Harry again.

“Well, since none of them can do anything that is magical, they need someone to make sure he isn’t being thrown into the magical equivalent of the bay wearing chains and cement boots. They all care about the boy, and want him to have the best start possible.” Sirius pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Free, going to see his godson, and being asked to teach him about magic?

Sirius hadn’t been happy in so long it seemed unreal.

“Where do I sign my soul away, Signor Plumeri?” Angelino laughed, and shook his head.

“You’ll find that out later, Signor Black.”

It was a good day for Sirius Black, the best he’d had in ages.

* *

Meanwhile, Viper stared at his computer, as if by sheer force of Dying Will he could change what he’d found. Alas, not even the most powerful Sky would change this tidbit of information. It was old, well buried by the Arcobaleno that had come before him and the lack of records from the time, but he’d found it.

He’d found the end of the trail Jasmine Evans had done her best to hide.

The trail of a woman who had been a Cloudy Sky.

Who had wanted out of the life of the mafia. Who had fled her family’s madness before it began to consume them, even if she took the last of their Sky line with her.

Who had loved a latent Sun and unknowing squib and given him one ‘normal’ child, a Sun-Witch even if her flames were latent, and a Cloud.

Who was grandmother to a Sky powerful enough to gain the attention of more then one Arcobaleno.

Jasmine Evans, whose son mimicked her by burying his past and taking a new name. Whose death alongside her husband’s may not have been an accident.

Jasmine Evans.

Or _Jessamine Estraneo_.

“Well, this has all gone to shit.” Viper stated to the empty room.

~~Omake~~

Bermuda watched the baby Sky trying to run an obstacle course, getting stuck in a tire and screeching with fury.

Granted, it was an obstacle course made by two very bored ex-COMSUBIN and a hitman so it wasn’t age appropriate at all, but it was still amusing.

Though he wondered why he had a Disney song going through his head, something about making a man out of people.

Damn Jack and his twisted sense of humor.


	12. I'm Chasing A Shadow, I Can't See a Thing/It's Dipping and Diving Like a Bird On The Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper makes a choice that will someday have consequences, Kawahira runs for his life, and Sirius explains a bit about magic over dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone suggested Mukuro as Harry's Mist guardian, and while it might be interesting, with the rough timeline of KHR it sadly wouldn't work. I'm going with the arcobaleno having been cursed for about 30 years at the end of KHR, and they were cursed when Harry was 2, so he'll be about 32 when the curse is ended. Mukuro at this point isn't even a naughty thought in his parent's heads. It does mean that the KHR Sky closest to Harry's age is Iemitsu, however.
> 
> Which is not going to be good for Iemitsu when I get around to his A+ parenting ass.
> 
> Still, that's a chapter or two away, so I hope you enjoy this one.

Viper took one last look at the information, memorizing every little detail.

Then he erased it.

Oh, he couldn’t guarantee no one would ever find it again. There were half a dozen ways to track Skull’s mother’s past down, nor counting anything the Estraneo might have or even sheer dumb luck. But he could at least deny them the path he’d found. Viper sighed, pulling his hood back over his face and questioning himself. Why do this? It brought him no money, no gain. Skull would never know to ask, so there was no profit. It could even bite him in the ass at some point.

Then he thought of Skull and the fact that the other Arcobaleno had never stiffed him. Hadrian who was such a powerful Sky. Of the rumors that the Estraneo were willing to do anything to recover from the loss of their Sky line. The thought that they would hold Hadrian hostage to force Skull to their will. That they might take the purity of that Sky and corrupt it. Viper clenched his fist. No, he was greedy, though apparently not as greedy as Verde. If Luce died before Hadrian found a Mist, Viper would strike, but otherwise he’d give other comers a fair shot. Even if he had to train whatever poor sap (or girl, that would be even harder given that most female Mists were not strong in combat, too focused on appearance) to match his high standards.

Money help him, he was starting to sound like Fon. Time to pick a fight with the Storm.

Viper got out of his chair and opened his door.

And all Hell broke loose.

* *

Skull was happy, up to his elbows in engine grease as he worked out the final kinks on the mini motorcycle Verde had come up with. At least he had his favored form of transportation back. He sang along with the music on his radio, hands sure and steady as he manipulated the pieces.

He lived for two things anymore: speed and Hadrian.

Probably not the healthiest outlook, but Checker Face had stripped just about everything else from his life. He couldn’t age, couldn’t die, finding a lover who wasn’t a pedophile was not happening. Skull couldn’t continue with his stunt shows, there’d be people throwing screaming fits about child endangerment. Never mind that he wasn’t a child, no one would believe him.

Life hadn’t handed him lemons, it’d deliberately handed him yellow oleander fruit and laughed its ass off.

He sighed, wiped his hands off on the shop towel and got up to go clean up for dinner.

He stopped dead at what he saw outside.

And then went into a berserk fury.

* *

Kawahira liked to keep his options open.

While Sepira’s family made the best hosts for the Sky pacifier (and what did it say of humans that they took the symbol of the curse that killed their strongest and actually did stick it in their babies mouths? Nothing good.), he couldn’t use them constantly, or by now he’d have killed them all off. So he made it a habit to look at all Skies, just to see if any might work better.

Such a cute little Sky this one was, playing on the yard of the Arcobaleno’s home. Kawahira wondered who’d kidnapped the little darling.

He appeared over the child, doing his best to convey a mysterious and fascinating persona. The boy took one look at him, and narrowed his eyes. Then he shrieked, and Kawahira had a feeling things weren’t going how he envisioned.

“You! You’re the bastardo that cursed my Uncle!” The boy took a swing at him, overbalancing and falling on his face. Kawahira might have laughed, but he was staring at blank violet eyes that were rapidly filling with unreasoning Cloud fury and coming to the conclusion that unless he wanted a whole new generation of Arcobaleno twenty years or so early, he might want to run for his life.

Then Skull de Mort howled with a fury, and Kawahira heard Viper take up an echo of it and saw Renato and the poor failed Rain Lal Mirch’s heads snap in his direction and instinct kicked in.

_EnragedelementstooclosetoonesSkyragingtogetherevenifnotbondedRUNYOUIDIOT!_

Kawahira’s body took over before his brain could and he bolted with three Arcobaleno and one failed Arcobaleno hot on his heels, two of them shooting indiscriminately at him. He bolted past people, one of whom looked like he’d been in prison awhile and kept going, feeling like a zebra with a pride of lions on its ass. By the time he remembered he could Mist away they’d chased him a good ten miles in their fury, and he’d put the idea of using the little Sky firmly out of his head.

They’d hunt him down like a dog and put his skull above their door if he did.

* *

Sirius didn’t know what he’d expected when he got to the mansion Skull and Harry were living in.

He did know watching a man in an iron mask run for his life from four seeming toddlers wasn’t it.

Seeing the mini James with Lily’s eyes trying to keep up screaming about how he was going to make the man uncurse his Uncle was a blow. He staggered a little and the boy’s attention snapped to him, curiosity replacing the temper on his face. Harry blinked up at Sirius, then looked at Angelino.

“Mister Plumeri, who is our guest?” The Italian smiled down at the boy.

“Hadrian, this is your padrino Sirius. Some people thought he did something bad so they locked him up in jail without giving him a trial. He’s been recently found innocent and he’s come to see you.” Harry smiled, looking so sweet.

“I have a padrino? Yay! Can he come see the familiars? Can he stay?” Sirius smiled, the feeling odd and unfamiliar after his time in Azkaban.

“Sure, prongslet, I can stay. I’m actually here to because your Uncle wants you to learn about magic so when you go to Hogwarts you won’t be caught flat footed.” Hadrian blinked, eyes wide.

“Magic? I can do magic as well as flames?” Sirius blinked in surprise.

“You can use the gift of the elements, prongslet?” Harry nodded, laughing.

“Yup, see?” Sirius stared at the handfuls of orange fire Harry showed him, how the flame filled his godson’s eyes and turned them pumpkin orange. The rarest, most powerful form of the blessing. Blessed by the Sky, the one that the lesser blessed inevitably flocked towards. The ones who herded fate, and were often sacrificed to ensure it. Sirius sighed, it would figure.

“Yes, I see. You have very nice flames Hadrian.” As his godson smiled up at him, Sirius made a vow to protect him as best he could. He might not have the blessing, but he would protect his nephew with everything he had.

(Sirius’ Lightning had never even fully formed, just a bare spark in his soul, but it was still there. The shield against the blows of the world existed in him, and without the Storm and Sun he had once known, he protected the child they had given everything for.)

* *

Sirius found the mealtime interesting.

The wizarding world had always though that the blessing of the elements was rare. Oh, it was, but apparently not as rare as they’d thought. They had their own little society, their own bloodlines which blessings tended to follow, and their own ingrained prejudices. Skull received some teasing about being a ‘civilian’, though Sirius sensed it had once been more derogatory then teasing. All in all, they seemed a happy if rather dysfunctional family.

They had at least one curse too, since aside from him, Hadrian and Angelino everyone at the table looked like a toddler.

“Oi, Sirius! I’ve got a question, kora!” Colonnello yelled down the table at him. Sirius grinned at him.

“Yes you have to eat your vegetables if you want to grow up big and strong, mini Rambo.” Colonnello scowled at him while the rest of the group laughed.

“Ha ha, kora. What I’m trying to figure out is why it’s a school of ‘witchcraft and wizardry’ instead of just magic. What’s the difference, kora?” Sirius blinked, then answered.

“Most people use the titles somewhat interchangeably anymore, but magician, witch, wizard, sorcerer, mage, they’re all different types of magic users. Granted, there’s overlap, but witchcraft is significantly different from wizardry and sorcery.” He took a sip of his drink.

“Magician actually refers to those who use slight of hand, tricks and not real magic in our world. Calling someone one is an insult, like calling someone who hasn’t got a long list of magical ancestors a mudblood. A mage is something of a jack of all trades, master of none. They’re usually not very powerful, or for some reason they never completed their schooling.” The group seemed fascinated by his brief explanations.

“Now the main three are a bit more complex. Witchcraft deals with more ‘natural’ magic, crafting potions, raising magical plants, charms, and healing primarily. It also has a connection to curses and breaking them and transfiguration, which overlaps it with sorcery and wizardry. It’s also seen as both a weaker branch of magic and a more feminine branch, though there are plenty of potion masters. Wizardry is a bit more arcane and combat oriented, transfiguration, divination, defending against the dark arts is more a wizards thing. However, some use the dark arts themselves, and rune work and the study of magical history along with transfiguration cause overlap between sorcery and witchcraft.” Another sip of his drink.

“Sorcery is the most ‘scientific’ of the three, alchemy, astronomy, and arithmancy being the sorcerer’s key tools. They also have a keen knowledge of runes and history as well as potion crafting tendencies to overlap with wizardry and witchcraft. Wizardry and sorcery are considered more masculine branches of magic. There are a few others, such as necromancy or summoning, but they’ve either been banned for being ‘evil’ or are rare and self taught.” Lal next to Colonnello smiled at him.

“So the school probably focused more on turning out witches and wizards in the old days, but has become more all around since then?” Sirius nodded.

“Pretty much. It’s hard to tell what branch Hadrian’ll take to at this point, since James and Lily were pretty much polar opposites magic wise. She was purely witch while he was purely wizard.” Verde responded to that, looking intrigued.

“Several possibilities there, then. He might favor either parent, or a hybrid of the two. Fascinating.” Sirius nodded.

“It is indeed.” He looked over at Skull, who just smiled a little.

Yes, this dysfunctional family was an interesting one indeed.

~~Bonus Omake~~

Bermuda had loved blackberries when he was alive.

He couldn’t eat them now, but he occasionally liked to have Jaeger take him to a field of ripe ones and just look and long. There was a particularly lovely patch near the current Arcobaleno’s home.

Thus he got to see Checker Face run headlong into the blackberry bramble chased by a screaming Cloud, a seething Mist, fuming Sun and fractured Rain.

He would never admit to falling of Jaeger’s shoulder laughing.

It wasn’t his ultimate revenge, but it was a nice bonus.


	13. Now I Find Myself in Question/Guilty by Association

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discussions are held about Hadrian's future in the wizarding world, and Jaeger stirs the pot a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I take a several days to give myself time to let the next chapter come together in my head, but then Lal got Luce started talking to Sirius and Viper piped up and Jaeger wandered in and stole Hadrian and the chapter pretty much fell together. So here it is, I hope you all enjoy.

After dinner, when Hadrian had been sent up to bed, Lal watched Sirius and the others in the family room. There was something on the magic user’s mind, she was sure of it. She caught Fon’s eye and saw the same thoughts reflected in it. Sirius Black knew something, something that he believed the Arcobaleno would throw a fit over. Lal caught Luce’s eye, ignoring the twinge from her fractured bond, and conveyed that Luce was probably the best of them to ask.

Luce was very good at the mothering thing, which Lal frankly sucked at. Lal was much more comfortable as the crazy auntie who carried a gun, wore men’s clothes and swilled beer. It played to her strengths, even if Colonnello teased her because she wasn’t very lady-like. Lal snorted. If she tried being lady-like, Colonnello would probably start freaking out about a foreign Mist user in their lot.

“Black-san,” and there was Luce’s sweet ‘I’m a mother listen to me, you want to talk to me’ tones. The ones that had made taking a shady job with a mad scientist and a civilian stuntman sound safe, sane and reasonable. “You seem to have something you wish to tell us.” Black looked like a hound caught with his nose in the cat’s litterbox, but rallied.

“Yeah, umm… can I get a promise that the messenger doesn’t get shot first?” Renato rolled his eyes but put Leon on the table while Lal and Colonnello put their guns down. “Guess that’s as good as I’m getting. Umm, how much do you know about how the wizarding world views flames?” Skull was the one who answered him.

“Not much. Lily found some stuff about sacrificing flame users in the belief that magic would give something in exchange for the flames. Seems like hogwash to me.” Sirius nodded.

“It is, but the part that really concerns me is the Blessed by the Sky. According to legend, not only do lesser blessed flock to them, offering protection in exchange for a place to call their own, but the Skies are believed to herd fate in the direction they want it to go. And to sacrifice themselves to ensure it.” Fon’s placid expression didn’t waver, though Lal noted that his teacup and tea went up in a burst of Storm flames.

“You’re saying they’ll want Hadrian to sacrifice himself for some ideology of theirs?” Lal asked, feeling her temper rise. They wouldn’t. Sirius’ eyes said that they would.

“There was… someone made a prophecy, about a child destined to defeat Voldemort. Two children fit the description, but Voldemort went after Hadrian. Since he hasn’t been seen since, some people are saying the prophecy was fulfilled.” He took a deep breath. “Others… they think it wasn’t. They think that the worst of the fight is still to come.” Skull snarled, and Lal had a hard time believing she’d ever doubted he was a Cloud with that expression on his face.

“So, it’s not enough that they let my sister get slaughtered, now they want to use Hadrian in a bunch of political bullshit? Fuck that and fuck them. They don’t have the right to ask him to die for their bullshit.” Sirius closed his eyes.

“I agree with you, but you can’t take the chance that he won’t get the full training his magic needs. I’m not saying let them have him, but make it clear to them and to him that it’s his life and his choice, not theirs.” Viper spoke up then, actually pulling his hood down and letting them see the slightly worry in his eyes.

“Black. Normally I charge for information, but in this case I’m considering it quid pro quo. There is… something wrong in Hadrian’s scar. Something that does not feel like him. Skull’s flames seem to be keeping it out, but it feels like he carries a bit of someone else with him…” Viper stopped as Sirius went pale.

“Horcrux…” The word meant nothing to them, but the Arcobaleno followed Sirius up to Hadrian’s room.

And stopped dead at the empty bed.

* *

Jaeger wasn’t certain why he decided to steal into the child Sky’s room. He watched from afar usually, but Bermuda wasn’t with him that night and a whim seized him. He felt the boy wake up, staring at him with wide eyes so much like his mothers. Then he made a distressed little sound and reached for Jaeger.

“You hurt, let me help.” Soft bits of Sky flame, so much purer then Jaeger had experienced in life, brushed against his bandages and brought a slight feel of warmth back to his skin. He allowed the boy to do so for a few moments, before gently pushing his flames away with the flames of night. Another impulsive idea seized him, and Jaeger ran with it.

“Someone wishes to see you, child. Will you come with me for a few hours?” Jaeger felt the boy’s intuition weigh and measure him, and decide that for the time being he was trust worthy.

“I’m Hadrian, not child! And I gotta be back before morning, or Uncle Skull’ll freak out and rage everywhere. He’s like a purple Incredible Hulk!” Jaeger carefully picked Hadrian up, raising his one visible eyebrow.

“Incredible Hulk?’ Hadrian’s face got enthusiastic.

“Yeah! Hulk’s normally this quiet doctor named Banner, but when he gets mad bio-chemical stuff that Uncle Verde says is bullshit science happens and he turns into Hulk who’s a big green man-monster with muscles everywhere and he smashes stuff! Just like Uncle Skull!” Hadrian gestured wildly with his arms as he spoke, and Jaeger felt his lips curl in a bit of a smile.

“Yes, we wouldn’t want to upset Skull unnecessarily. You’ll be back well before then. Hold on.” Jaeger formed a portal with his flames, and Hadrian’s eyes got big.

“Cool!” Jaeger smiled a little more at the boy’s enthusiasm before he stepped through to the ruined house. Lily turned towards him immediately, then her eyes got wide as she saw who he held. Jaeger felt Hadrian’s Sky flames activate, the now pumpkin orange eyes staring straight at Lily. Small fists clutched his coat, and then Hadrian spoke, his voice soft and disbelieving.

“Mama?” Lily sobbed at Hadrian’s question, her hands phasing through him and Jaeger when she tried to hold both of them.

“Oh Harry, my baby. My precious son. Look how much you’ve grown! I’m so sorry I can’t hold you.” She turned tear filled eyes to Jaeger. “Thank you, Jaeger. Thank you for bringing him to see me.” Hadrian had begun wiggling, so Jaeger carefully set him down on the floor. The boy smiled at his mother, babbling happily.

“I love you Mama! I’m with Uncle Skull and everyone else who’re my adopted Aunts and Uncles and they teach me all kinds of neat stuff! Auntie Lal and Uncle Colonnello make obstacle courses for me to play on and Uncle Renato helps and Uncle Fon’s teaching me how to kick boards in two and Uncle Verde teaches me science things and Aunt Luce is teaching me to bake and Uncle Viper says he’ll charge me through the nose if I ever tell the rest but sometimes he makes illusions for me to play with and Uncle Skull loves me so much but we both miss you. We miss you so much.” Hadrian went from happy babble to crying and Lily looked helpless. Jaeger scooped the boy up again, murmuring soft sounds to assure him.

“It’s okay, to miss the fact that she’s not all the way here anymore, Hadrian. If she could come back she would, wouldn’t you Lily?” Lily smiled and nodded. Hadrian looked up and asked a question that had Lily snickering at Jaeger.

“Are you my Daddy?” Jaeger closed his eye and shook his head.

“No, I am not. Your Father… he did not linger for reasons known only to fate. His soul has already moved on.” Hadrian pouted, then smiled.

“That sucks, I think you’d make an awesome Daddy.” Jaeger brushed a hand across the boy’s forehead, stopping at the scar and what he felt within it. His eye narrowed. That would have to be dealt with. Lily saw his expression.

“Jaeger? What’s wrong?” He traced the scar as he answered.

“Someone has lodged a rotting fragment of their own soul in it. Oleander is doing his best to keep it out, though from the way the flames are acting he doesn’t realize he is doing so.” He focused more on it, the piece had thankfully little in the way of its original owners personality, and much that could be of use to Hadrian. He thought of the boy’s familiar, and smiled a bit.

“Fortunately, I can burn it out without too much trouble. I can even separate a useful bit or two from it. How would you like to talk to snakes, Hadrian?” The boy’s eyes lit up.

“I’d like that very much, Mister Jaeger!” Jaeger chuckled.

“Then hold still.” He carefully fed bits of the flames of night into the scar, burning out the rot and the original soul’s nature and power. As he did so, the barrier of Cloud flames relaxed and Hadrian’s Sky flames took what was left over and assimilated it. Hadrian twitched a bit during the process, but held still.

“That felt itchy!” Jaeger chuckled again, watching the boy yawn.

“Time I think for you to go back home, Hadrian. But I want you to do something.” Hadrian looked up warily.

“What?” Jaeger ruffled his hair.

“Tell the Arcobaleno only that I burned out the rotting fragment, not that I brought you here to meet your mother. She is not a usual ghost, they would have a hard time believing you.” Hadrian nodded with a sleepy yawn.

“’Kay Mister Jaeger, I will.” Jaeger stood, cradling the boy. Lily smiled at him, echoes of lost warmth in it.

“Thank you again, Jaeger.” He bowed and opened the portal, stepping through it in front of Angelino and handing him the now asleep boy. The Rain looked about ready to piss himself. Jaeger merely inclined his head and vanished as Skull came around the corner. The Cloud looked at Angelino holding Hadrian, and sighed.

“The Vindice? Seriously, what’s next, picking fights with another Sky?”

Hadrian snoozed on, oblivious to Skull’s frustrations.

He was lucky Skull loved him, or he’d be grounded until he was fifty.

~~Bonus Omake~~

Luce sighed.

There were times when she had to put her foot down. She hated it, hated denying the boys (and Lal but Lal was really more one of the boys then anything else) anything, but this was ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous, it was dangerous.

“I repeat, no you may NOT acquire a dragon. Period. End of sentence.” She ignored the puppy dog eyes and the faint sniff coming from Fon of all people with the ease of long practice. They were destructive enough, they didn’t need a fire breathing flying lizard.

Where would they even house the creature anyway?


	14. Echoed Voices in The Night/ (S)he's a Restless Spirit on an Endless Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renato feels things he tries to ignore, Hadrian suffers punishment for scaring the adults, and Iemitsu happens to (not) learn to be sure he has all the information before he tries something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In regards to Iemitsu: the man ranks up there with Marvel's Odin and Magneto in A+ Parenting in my opinion. For all intents and purposes, he crippled his own son rather then let him grow naturally. 'Wanting to keep him safe from the mafia' my ass, the man had to know the instant Tsuna showed Sky flames any chance of a normal life was gone. Instead, he proves he can't handle this as a rational responsible adult and does a ton of damage to Tsuna's psyche and future trying to 'protect' him. While Nana might not be much better (what with calling Tsuna 'dame' and being denser then a bag of stones about what's going on around her), at least she is there for her son and tries in her own inept way to encourage him to overcome the obstacles her darling husband's placed in the road. Iemitsu just fucked Tsuna's life up and then even lied about being dead to Tsuna. His treatment of Basil isn't much better: either he believed Basil would look up how Japan really was and didn't realize that Basil was taking his word as Word of God, or he was trolling the boy unmercifully.
> 
> So suffice it to say, I figure his stupidity existed back when he was a kid too, and Hadrian is having none of it. At all.
> 
> Also, Happy Fourth of July to all my fellow Americans! Have fun setting off the firecrackers!

Renato woke slowly, feeling something strange about his environment but not quite sure how to pinpoint it. After the Vindice had apparently made off with Hadrian and returned him, there had been eight understandably nervous Arcobaleno and one worried godfather. Somehow they had managed to squeeze themselves and Hadrian into the same room and eventually fall asleep.

Renato’s eyes scanned the room. Verde curled into a ball in the corner, check. Fon and Viper sleeping on top of Sirius, the latter drooling into the wizard’s hair, check. Luce in the rocking chair, check. Colonnello and Lal curled up together on Hadrian’s favorite beanbag, check. Hadrian sleeping butt up in the air against the wall, check.

It was that point that Renato realized Skull was sleeping on top of him.

Even as toddlers, the difference in their frames was obvious. Renato had been a stout toddler, growing into wide shoulders and a powerful body. Skull in contrast was a slender, long limbed creature even at that stage, his features already delicate instead of pudgy with baby fat. With his colorful makeup wiped off and sleep stealing the brashness from him, he looked almost angelic. Well, if the halo was held up by a pair of devil horns that was. It finally trickled through Renato’s head what was off in his environment.

He could feel the contented weight of Skull’s Cloud flames lying against his Sun flames, the barest edges attempting to intertwine with his. It was something he’d never felt before as all Cloud’s seemed to have an edge of bloodlust, irritation, or both to their flames. To feel complete, restful contentment from one was almost unimaginable. For a few moments Renato just lay there, basking in the almost songlike feel to Skull’s flames, before it occurred to him what was starting to happen and he almost panicked as he pushed Skull off and moved a bit away from him. The Cloud merely grumbled in his sleep, flames taking on the familiar tinge of irritation for a moment before he rolled over against Hadrian and they smoothed out again. Renato held his head in his hands, trying his level best to ignore Skull’s flames.

While harmonization was primarily a Sky’s trait, variations of it did occur, such as the almost sibling like bonds between guardians of the same Sky. Most common were cases like Colonnello and Lal Mirch, or what they had been before her flames fractured. It was in essence a case of complimentary flames of the same type. They gave off nearly precisely the same amount of flames, with the same feel. It wasn’t too uncommon for Rains or Mists to come in complimentary pairs like that. It did make figuring out which one was actually the stronger a pain in the ass most of the time however.

It was much rarer to find complimentary flames of two different types, and for them to be complimentary and bound to different Skies was a Romeo and Juliet waiting to happen. Most who felt the pull of another’s flames in that situation would choose to avoid each other rather then put themselves in the position where they had to betray either the harmony of their Sky or the call of their flames. Renato took a deep breath, steadied himself. And ignored the urge to just let his flames play against Skull’s.

He was the strongest Sun, he had long practice with both disappointment and denying himself.

Besides, he thought as he left the room and went to take a shower, he was known as a womanizer before the curse. Men had never interested him, and he wasn’t about to change that because of the curse. He put the few times he’d admired another man’s form down to professional interest in competition and put it in the mental equivalent of a small box in the closet to be ignored. Not that he really considered sex much anymore. He was in a body that even if his mind was interested didn’t have the hormones to act on it, plus like any of the other Arcobaleno he was well aware that anyone expressing sexual interest in him at this point was likely not right in the head.

He didn’t have any interest in playing sex toy for a pedophile.

(If he ignored the thought that the only ‘lover’ who might truly understand was another of the Arcobaleno, well that was because most of them were male, and the only unattached female in the lot was the reason most barista’s laughed their asses off at him when he wanted an espresso. Luce was his Sky, and he loved her as fiercely as a brother, but sex with her was… no, just no.)

* *

Hadrian pouted, slogging through the same course for the seventh time that day. He was in trouble for just going with Jaeger, and his punishment was to slog through his least favorite obstacle course for twenty repetitions. He hadn’t thought far enough ahead it seemed. The adults had not been happy with him for trusting his intuition and going with the Vindice. Though they were happy the thing in the scar, what padrino Sirius referred to as a horcrux, was gone. Hadrian was still getting punished for it.

At first, he’d wondered why Mister Jaeger had told him not to mention being taken to see Mama, but he was a smart boy and he could come to his own conclusions. Mama was stuck, somehow. She couldn’t come back this way without a live body, but for some reason she couldn’t go on to the (boring sounding in his opinion) eternal light and peace you were supposed to get after death. If Uncle Skull found out she was stuck like that, in a house falling to bits, and that her only regular company was Mister Jaeger, he’d blame himself. It wouldn’t matter that he hadn’t known, Uncle Skull would feel he should have known, should have been the one to take Hadrian to see Mama.

So that Uncle Skull wouldn’t be sad, Hadrian could keep his and Mister Jaeger’s secrets.

He completed another slog through the course and trudged back to the beginning of it. Hadrian’s ears perked up at the sound of distant voices, but knew he had to keep up his slog. Both Uncle Skull and Uncle Colonnello were watching him to make sure he completed his punishment. They weren’t going to let him go see what was going on.

It probably wasn’t that interesting any way. Just another Don wanting to try to convince Angelino to procure an impossible familiar for a spoiled brat daughter or son. A kitten farting unicorn or some kind of tame fire breathing dragon. Really, where did people get the idea that they could provide something like that? Hadrian shoved his bangs out of his face, ignoring the way the mud from the course Colonnello had deliberately soaked caused his hair to stick up. Not his circus, not his monkey.

He had a course to beat. Again.

* *

Sawada Iemitsu tagged along behind Vongola Timoteo-san, his eyes bright. When his parents had seen his flames, seen that he was a Sky, they had sent him to their relatives in Italy. Iemitsu had been thrilled to learn that he had the strongest Sky of his generation that anyone knew of. True, he was below Enrico, Massimo and baby Frederico for the heirship, but Timoteo-san had all but promised him the CEDEF when he was old enough! He’d be important, a great man! Not a paper pusher like his tou-san or an office assistant like his ka-san.

And now they were going to meet the Arcobaleno, the strongest seven! Some of whom he’d heard weren’t bonded to the Sky Arcobaleno. Oh, it happened a lot, that even the Arcobaleno Sky couldn’t hold all of them. Still, it was an opportunity! He was the strongest Sky of his generation, he’d bet he was more then strong enough to pull in the unbonded Arcobaleno! Then everyone’d acknowledge how great a leader he was.

“Iemitsu, why don’t you go explore, leave the adults to talk?” Timoteo-san said it so casually, like he was dismissing one of his sons, but Iemitsu knew what the Ninth meant. He meant for him to go find those unbonded Arcobaleno and make them his. He’d show everyone the might of the Vongola!

Iemitsu wandered about, eventually hearing someone yelling for someone else to ‘pick up the pace, I’ve seen little girls complete this faster!’ He followed the voice to an obstacle course, a blond baby yelling at a boy a year or two Iemitsu’s junior who was covered in mud while another baby with purple hair sat nearby with his nose in a copy of Samurai X. Iemitsu repressed a shout of triumph: he’d found the unbonded Arcobaleno! Now he just had to show them the strength of his Sky, bond with them, and they’d be his first guardians! Iemitsu drew in a breath, and let his flames out and shoved them at the two with all his might.

He felt them hit, felt resistance, and began to push harder. Then with a sense of unbridled _outrage_ he felt the Sky flames he previously hadn’t sensed from the boy on the course slam into his with an almost ringing impact right before the younger boy both tried to claw his face off and smother him in the mud.

Sawada Iemitsu didn’t even know Hadrian de Mort’s name, and he was rapidly learning to dislike him.

* *

Timoteo was used to Renato’s tendencies to take charge. The strongest Sun had a bit of a leader complex, and the Arcobaleno tended to indulge him. The meeting was in some ways amusing, with him representing the Vongola and Renato representing the Arcobaleno. Pleasantries were exchanged, as were gifts. Vongola wanted to know if Arcobaleno was reconsidering its neutrality. Arcobaleno made it clear that wasn’t happening. Vongola wanted to know what Arcobaleno was doing with the Caracassa then. Arcobaleno made it clear that was none of Vongola’s business and ask the Cloud if they wanted more information. Vongola wanted to know if the Sun might consider training some of their allies potential heirs. Arcobaleno indicated that might be on the table but Vongola was going to be paying through the nose for it. All in all, it was going fairly well.

Until Timoteo sensed first Iemitsu’s Sky flames and then a second, even more powerful Sky respond in utter frothing fury over the infringement into it’s territory and both he and Renato broke into a run.

When they got there, Timoteo saw the two supposedly unbonded Arcobaleno shaking their heads repeatedly as if to clear them of ringing (or an intrusion by foreign flames into their bond with their Sky), and an extremely muddy six year old, eyes glowing pumpkin orange from extremely pure Sky flames, doing his best to murder Iemitsu by smothering him to death with mud. Iemitsu knocked the smaller boy off and kicked him in the head, which caused the Cloud Arcobaleno to roar in fury and try to take Iemitsu’s head off. The Rain had recovered enough by then to dump enough Tranquility on all three that even an old, experienced Sky like Timoteo found himself wanting to curl up and take a nap. Renato looked up at him, black eyes serious, and pointed at Iemitsu.

“Your… distant nephew leaves, and he doesn’t come near Skull or Hadrian again until he learns to behave himself, or next time I’ll make sure Colonnello lets them tear him to bits.” Timoteo inclined his head, accepting the promise for what it was, and picked Iemitsu up.

“I understand, and apologize for Iemitsu’s… heavy handedness. I was unaware the Arcobaleno had found such a… pure Sky.” A hint of killing temper showed in Renato’s eyes.

“Skull is… protective of his nephew, the boy is special in many ways. At this point in time Hadrian has given no indication of desiring to create… friction with more established Skies.” A very polite way of saying that the young Sky was unaligned and the Arcobaleno had no intention of either forcing him to align with anyone or allowing anyone to do so. Timoteo nodded, and after exchanging a few empty pleasantries left the Arcobaleno’s estate, mulling over the new knowledge.

True, Iemitsu had failed to secure any Arcobaleno as guardians, but at this point no other famiglia had a chance at them either. With Luce’s inevitable death that would change, but for now the situation was stable.

And Iemitsu had hopefully learned a lesson about proceeding hastily with a plan without making sure he had all the facts.

(Newsflash: All Iemitsu learned was that he disliked Skies both younger and more powerful then him, a fact that would bite him repeatedly in the ass over the next several decades.)

~~Bonus Omake~~

Up in heaven, two people watched the fate of the world with vast interest. Also vast amusement in one’s case while the second whined unbecomingly.

“Seriously, now I have to wonder if Lily really was attracted to me, or if I just suddenly reminded her of a guy who’s technically a rotting corpse. Major blow to my ego right there.” James Potter complained to his companion, who chuckled mellowly.

“Well, it could be much worse. Your son could be growing up with his emotionally and physically abusive aunt and uncle, still have a fragment of Voldemort’s putrid soul lodged in him with absolutely no defense against it but ‘love’ and a budding martyr complex. At least with the Arcobaleno he’s giving Kawahira a headache.” Sepira, the last Sky of the Earthborn, told him. She chuckled a little as Hadrian shoved Iemitsu’s head in the mud. “Who’s a territorial little Sky? Hadrian is!” James looked at her.

“You know, for someone who likes humanity, you can be disturbingly bloodthirsty at times.” Sepira smiled at him.

“I may see the best in your species, but I’m still a Sky, Potter. Territoriality comes with the Harmony. And for what that little shit Iemitsu’s going to do in the future, he deserves every bit of it.” James shuddered.

“You’re scary, Sepira. Brilliant, but scary.”


	15. Drink, Drink We May As Well Join Them/The Gods Are Not Crazy, They're Higher Then Kites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria loves her Harry-nii, and Hadrian goes shopping for school things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have gone back and done a bit of editing to chapter eleven, just switching a few years around because last chapter I listed Hadrian as six instead of five and wanted to fix the accidental time gap that happened.
> 
> Also, I toyed with the idea of Hadrian/Aria for a few minutes, but decided that I actually need Byakuran mostly intact for the TYL arc, not in itty bitty chunks from pissing off Hadrian, Skull, and Hadrian's other guardians all at once. So Aria just loves him as her big brother, not her boyfriend to be.

Aria loved her Harry-nii.

He was warm, open, the place you went when you had a scraped knee and Mama was having to be a Boss. He was cookies snuck under blankets and the stuffed pumpkin man that moved and danced when no one who didn’t know was around. He was the person who loomed over bullies, the one who encouraged her. If he wasn’t her Harry-nii, Aria would marry him when she grew up.

But right now, she had to tell him to get to the house.

Aria scrambled over a rock, finally finding her favorite person in her bizarre family. Hadrian sat on a rock next to Fon, both of them meditating. Aria closed her eyes, basking for a moment in warm and ever loving Sky and fierce but controlled Storm flames. She was aware she was lucky, so very lucky. Most famiglias didn’t have a full complement of Active flame guardians, let alone more then one Active Sky. Most heirs didn’t grow up in such loving homes where the flames were so thick you could taste them (burnt marshmallow Lightning, warm honey Sun, cinnamon sugar Sky… and the indescribable tastes of Storm and Cloud and Rain and Mist), where you could cuddle against a guardian and know beyond all doubt you were safe. Where another Sky was simply another friend, not a rival for the attention and affection of the Elements.

Aria pitied those who didn’t have such a wonderful home like she did.

The moment over, she gathered herself and leaped, bowling over Hadrian and laughing as he squawked and flailed. It was mostly for show, he’d known she was there and allowed her to knock him over. Aria cuddled close to him for a moment, then bounced off him to a theatrical ‘ooph’ and comments about her weight. She stuck her tongue out at him and reveled in Fon’s indulgent smile.

“Mama says you hafta come to the house, Harry-nii. She says something came for you.” Hadrian sighed and stood up, looking amused.

“So it begins, eh? Let’s see what Chaos I can cause.” Aria clapped her hands, cheering.

Other then Renato, Harry-nii was the best at causing Chaos.

* *

Skull watched his nephew’s lip curl in disgust as he read the front of the envelope.

“Mister Harry Potter, the second biggest bedroom… I don’t know whether to be pissed off they can’t be bothered to realize I haven’t been Harry Potter for years or freaked out that they know I have the second biggest bedroom.” Granted, Hadrian needed the second biggest because the Arcobaleno had a habit of crashing in his room for reasons ranging from ‘post mission exhaustion’ to ‘need to feel safe’ to ‘just because’. Even Luce was likely to be found curled up near Hadrian when she’d had a dream that the Arcobaleno curse wasn’t real and woken back up to a tiny, useless body. Skull leapt from his chair to his nephew’s shoulder, pressing his flames against Hadrian’s to offer comfort and affection.

“The goblin’s did warn us that they were unlikely to pay attention to the fact that your name was changed in the non-magical world, Hadrian. It doesn’t count to them because of how many witches and wizards do that.” Like the magical world was the only real one, the only one that mattered. Hadrian sighed, then carefully shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter, does it? So, who’s going with me to get school supplies? Since I doubt you’re going to let me go unescorted.” Skull smiled, tugging a few locks of his nephew’s hair. 

“Not unless you plan on a more extensive disguise then keeping your eyes down and your hair over your scar. Too many have a vague idea of what the ‘Boy-Who-Lived’ looks like for you not to get accosted for being the right age and coloration.” Hadrian chuckled a little.

“Thankfully black hair’s not uncommon, Uncle. And I was thinking,” Hadrian looked a bit nervous. “Maybe a Mist illusion over the scar for the shopping, but also… I ran into this website for colored contact lenses, so I was thinking maybe some purple ones?” Skull’s hand stilled, along with his breath.

“Hadrian…” His nephew spoke over him, a floodgate opening.

“It’s just that it’d be effective to change them and from what I’ve heard everyone’s always playing up the ‘has his mother’s eyes’ and it’d cause less questions if I looked more like you…” Skull put a finger to Hadrian’s lips, silencing him.

“We’ll talk to Viper about a Mist illusion for your eyes as well, Hadrian. Easier to do then you having to put on and take off contacts, and we can probably get him to do it along with hiding your scar. And I’m flattered that you want to look more like me, Hadrian, but I don’t think you need to mimic me. You’re you, Hadrian, and that’s more then enough.” Skull felt his nephew smile against his finger.

“Yeah, Uncle Skull, you’re right. I’m me.”

* *

Draco Malfoy kept glancing at the boy who’d come in after him out of the corner of his eye.

The newcomer had the perfectly blank expression of someone who’d gotten clothes custom fitted before on his face, bright violet eyes staring at a fixed point while Madam Malkin prattled away. He was a gracefully built person, his features even and hinting at noble blood. If it weren’t for the wrong eye color and the conspicuously bare forehead without even a trace of a scar Draco would be tempted to wonder if this was Harry Potter. About then, their eyes met and Draco took the opportunity.

“As boring for you as it is for me?” The other boy’s lips quirked upwards into a smile.

“Probably. We’re all the same to them, vehicles for their genius that have the bad manners to flinch when they stick a pin in us.” Draco chuckled.

“True that. Hogwarts as well?” The other nodded.

“Yeah, I’m interested in seeing it myself.” Draco sighed.

“I think it’s stupid they won’t allow first years to have a broom. Maybe I’ll have my father help me get one in anyway.” The other shook his head.

“It’s probably not worth the trouble, besides they probably want to limit the amount of ways first years can do something truly stupid. Imagine the damage to the school’s reputation if some homesick firstie got themselves lost trying to fly back home, or exposed to the non-magical community.” Draco blinked, he hadn’t thought of that. The image of Crabbe or Goyle trying to find their way home and possibly ending up in Muggle hands made him shudder.

“Okay, you’ve got a point there, but what about the others? They don’t know anything about our world.” The other boy shook his head a little, smiling.

“And whose fault is that? Theirs, or the people who keep track of halfbloods and the descendents of Squibs who show magic but don’t bother to contact them until they reach eleven? You can’t blame them for knowing nothing when no one bothers to teach them. It’s not like they’re give lessons in how to behave or even a simple orientation of ‘please don’t do this, it makes you look like an unmannered lout’. Just thrown to the sharks with the advice of ‘sink or swim’.” Draco thought on that, thought on what it might be like to suddenly have a whole world revealed to you and no one tell you what might or might not be kosher. Just people who would expect you to know and get downright nasty when you didn’t. It made his head hurt a bit.

“I… guess you’re right. It’s not entirely fair to them, thinking they should know us when they’ve only just been told. I’m Draco, by the way, Draco Malfoy.” He held out his hand, and the other shook it.

“Hadrian, Hadrian de Mort.” About then, someone called for Hadrian and he gathered his new robes and bounded off, yelling something to the person. Draco stared after him, wondering if he was seeing things.

For just a moment, he thought he’d seen a thin layer of indigo flame covering green eyes and a lightning bolt scar.

Impossible, Hadrian de Mort couldn’t be Harry Potter. Just the same, Draco decided not to tell his Father about meeting the other boy.

* *

Hadrian looked about the shop they’d come into last, having gotten his books, his robes, and a large snowy owl to carry messages for him. His Uncle was working on contacting the school to see if he could take his snake Mythal with him, since the list only said cats, rats, toads and owls. He looked about the building, and repressed a shudder. Intellectually, he knew they were wands, knew he’d have to have one.

His intuition was screaming at him he was in a room with hundreds of the evil sticks that had once been used to blow his Uncle’s face and skin off in front of him and he still hadn’t found an adequate defense against them. He twitched and shifted closer to Viper, who had won the lottery of who besides Uncle Skull was coming with him. Viper said nothing, but Hadrian felt a bit safer anyway. The owner of the shop came out about then, great pale eyes blinking at them.

“Ah Mister de Mort, here at last. At least, I presume you prefer de Mort to Potter?” Hadrian shuddered at the creep factor, but nodded.

“Yes, sir. I haven’t gone by Potter for nearly a decade.” The man nodded.

“Very well, your choice in who you are merely makes a difference in what I show you. Harry Potter would be best for certain wands, but Hadrian de Mort…” he went over to a table and brought out several large boxes, opening them to reveal the lovingly carved saplings, the glinting bands of metal and bits of feather, fur or scale, the shimmering gems cradled in the roots that had once dug through the earth. “Is far more likely to be comfortable with a Staff then a Wand.” Hadrian’s hands twitched, aching suddenly to hold any of them. The owner, Ollivander Hadrian believed his name was, looked at him and the staffs and then put several away.

“None of those, not for you. Perhaps later you’ll bring others who’ll be best for them, but for now try this one. Ash, six feet, lindworm skin grip, amber foci and gold banding. A ruler’s staff, if ever there was one.” Hadrian took it, but almost snatched his hand away in the next breath. There was nothing there, a cold dead feeling. He shook his head.

“No, not for me. Not at all.” Ollivander nodded and held out the second.

“Rowan, five feet ten inches, with reed, aspen and yew inlaid runes, electrum banding, phoenix feather and carnelian foci. A staff for those who would protect and connect others.” Hadrian took it, and the crystal blazed along with the feather, a glorious song filling the shop and bringing a sense of rightness and home and peace to him. Ollivander nodded, smiling a little.

“Thought so, you are one who seeks to bring others together rather then rule over them. 25 galleons for the staff,” Ollivander looked over when Viper made a protesting noise. “Staffs take far longer to make then wands, and far fewer wizards or warlocks are strong enough to use them anymore, rarer still for them to need them rather then a wand. Regrettably, the price must therefore be steeper then a wands would be.” Viper nodded, though Hadrian noted he grumbled under his breath at paying for it. Which was so like Uncle Viper. He chuckled as they left the shop, watching the adult witches and wizards goggle at him and the staff he carried before moving respectfully out of his way.

He could hardly wait for school to start.

~~Bonus Omake, AU version~~

Byakuran smirked as he made to grab the current Sky Arcobaleno. Such a cute, innocent little girl…

Until Yuni opened her mouth and screamed.

“Great Uncle Skull! Papa! There’s a pervert touching ME!!!” Byakuran was forced to beat a hasty retreat when instead of Gamma, Hadrian de Mort came out staff swinging and spells flying.

Clearly the other hims that had dealt with these kinds of worlds hadn’t had the savior of the wizards decide to shack up with the previous Sky Arcobaleno.


	16. Heaven Above Me, Take My Hand/Shine Until There's Nothing Left But You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Arcobaleno experience separation anxiety, a train trip, and Hadrian really needs to stop channeling Byakuran and thinking of his friends as his 'cute little minions'

Dinner at the Arcobaleno’s was an odd mixture of excited and panicked that night.

Fon could tell that outwardly they were all happy for Hadrian, they all wanted him to do well in his schooling and make friends beyond a group of, what had Sirius called them, adorable murder babies. They wanted to see one of their children succeed and grow into his own. Inwardly, there were eight different kinds of panic attacks of the ‘not yet, my baby isn’t allowed to grow up yet’ variety happening. Even Fon could admit to that.

It was there in how much food Skull had prepared, far too much and all of Hadrian’s favorites. In how Luce kept precariously balancing on a stool in order to stroke Hadrian’s hair like a mother would. In how Verde had enough lists to go through three reams of computer paper that he was still checking over and over in case he missed something. In Lal and Colonnello’s scanning of the room as if Hadrian’s growing older was an enemy they could find and shoot. In Renato’s keeping his eyes on Hadrian as if by blinking the boy would vanish without a trace. In Viper’s miserly mutterings as he prepared to ruthlessly extract his penalties on those who’d thought to make themselves rich off of the tragedy Hadrian had suffered.

In the way his own hands ached to bash an unknown threat’s throat and head in and bury it far, far away with a mess of sacred charms for company and assurance it wouldn’t get back up.

Sirius seemed less worried then the rest of them, but the wizard would have far more access to Hadrian if things should go wrong then they would. He was also looking forward to looking up old friends, taking his own first steps back into the world he’d abandoned to teach Hadrian with them. Aria alone seemed blissfully oblivious to the tension in the adults, bouncing happily about and demanding that Hadrian send her back presents of all sorts. Hadrian laughed and nodded at her demands before shoving a bowl of strawberries off to Viper and leaning down to pick up and cuddle Fon.

And what did it say that none of them fought being treated so anymore, at least not from Hadrian? When did their group of hardened killers become accustomed to being cuddled and comforted by Skull’s little Sky? It was enough to boggle lesser minds.

“It’ll be okay, Uncle Fon. Nothing bad will happen, it’s just a school.” Hadrian murmured to him.

So why did Fon feel like Murphy’s Law was rolling on the floor laughing at them all?

* *

“You know, this isn’t how I imagined this would go this morning.”

“Less fuss then you thought?”

“No, all the fuss I thought, just not who I thought would be fussing.” Sirius chuckled a bit as Skull raised an eyebrow at him. He was being serious, though. He’d expected last minute mother henning, with a family like this it was bound to happen. He’d expected it from Luce, Skull, Verde and Colonnello though. Not Renato, Viper, Fon and Lal.

“Are you sure you’ve got all of your books and things? It will cost to ship them to you and I will take it out of your funds personally should I have to do so.” Ah, Viper the miser. A man the devil of greed was no doubt anticipating in his counting house with joy. Hadrian rolled his eyes.

“Yes I do, Uncle Viper.” Lal was next, bless her little Spartan heart, or lack of it.

“Don’t slip on your training, brat. If you do, I’ll kick your ass.” Hadrian chuckled a little.

“More then you usually do?” Fon ruffled Hadrian’s hair from his perch on the boy’s shoulder, doing his best to pretend he wasn’t upset at the thought of Hadrian going.

“You will keep up with your non-magical education as well, yes? If you should decide that world holds no interest for you after all.” Hadrian rolled his eyes again.

“I’m already five years ahead of my age group, Uncle Fon. I’m sure I’ll survive somehow.” Renato turned Leon into a slipper to smack Hadrian with, smiling at the boy’s offended expression.

“I expect at least one report of suitable Chaos, brat. More then that is perfectly acceptable, but no Chaos means I’ll have to tor… tutor you very extensively when you get back. And nothing simple like cherry bombing the bathrooms.” Hadrian laughed.

“Yes Uncle Renato, one Trickster level Chaos happening or else. Even my tiny little mind can remember that.” Hadrian finally extricated himself from the fussing Arcobaleno and bounded over to Sirius, Mist illusion woven over his eyes and one of Colonnello’s headbands hiding the scar on his forehead. Sirius ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Come on, Prongslet. Let’s get you out of here and to the muggle part of the station before your adopted worrywarts tie you up and tuck you back into bed.” Hadrian made a face.

“Yes please, they’d do it too. I’m not four anymore, I’m a big boy now.” Sirius laughed as he herded Hadrian out the door.

“Try telling them that.”

* *

Hadrian stood amongst the people moving about King’s Cross Station, bleeding just enough Harmony out that no one paid attention to him beyond moving around him absent-mindedly. He looked about, tracing the routes of the regulars, the hurried motions of people pressed for time, looking for what he needed. Those who were magic.

Not that he didn’t know how to get through the barrier, Sirius had provided that before he left to hunt down his old friend. But Hadrian wanted to know more before he just walked into that world. He wanted to assess his choices, make his decisions carefully. While he wanted this shiny new world, Hadrian wasn’t a fool. It would have to be worth giving up the comfortable dark world that was his childhood. Worth giving up harsh and relentless training tempered by warmth and love, where blood stained hands cradled him and Aria so gently. Where smiles that were omens of death for others became loving signs of happiness for them. Hadrian knew logically that most people would be horrified at what the Arcobaleno could and did do casually, but he himself couldn’t quite grasp it.

(A child raised lovingly by monsters sees nothing wrong with how the monsters behave, after all.)

He watched the small horde of red-heads vanish through the area Sirius had told him about before he made his own meandering way through. The platform was loud, noisy, parents sobbing last minute goodbyes to their babies, other first years having momentary panic attacks at the idea they’d be leaving their parents. Underneath it all a tension, a worry that Hadrian knew was in part caused by him. Or rather, by the fact that no one knew where ‘Harry Potter’ was. His lip curled in an involuntary sneer at their worry over where their ‘little Savior’ was. Not quite sheep, but so willing and content to shove the burden of doing anything dangerous off onto their ‘Savior’s’ shoulders and try to chain their fortunes to his. He despised being chained.

(Hadrian did have a secondary, but it was Rain and not Cloud surprisingly enough. Skies who bonded young tended to Harmonize traits from their first Guardian, however, and Hadrian had lived almost his entire life with a Cloud and their dislike for being restrained to influence him.)

He sighed, picked up his trunk and began hauling it onto the train. There would be plenty of time for thinking later. While Uncle Sirius was in the camp that Lord Moldy-Shorts hadn’t up and died, not when there’d been a fragment of the bastardo lurking in Hadrian’s scar for years, what could a disembodied nutbar do to him while he was in school? Threaten to give him a bad grade?

Like that was going to impress him.

* *

Ron Weasley hadn’t expected to find a mostly unoccupied car.

He’d known he wouldn’t get to sit with his brothers, none of them really wanted to claim him in front of their schoolmates, but most of the other unsorted kids… ugh. Too many ‘we have money and you don’t’ Purebloods or overly enthusiastic muggle borns. He just needed space, which was how he found himself and Draco Malfoy of all the bloody money hogs staring at the same door. Which someone had put a sign on.

 _‘I don’t care who you are, if you sit in here you leave your feuds at the door.’_ Pretty big words, for someone Ron didn’t even know.

Still, it was this or the cars crammed eight or ten full of other first years. Ron shoved the door open, ignoring that Malfoy followed him into the car. The car’s only occupant looked up, blinking violet eyes at them. The guy gave off weird, almost comforting vibes to Ron, like some place Ron had always been searching for in a sea of older (better) brothers who’d done it all before Ron could toddle. The guy didn’t give off the Pureblood feel, but there was just… something. An unquantifiable unknown to him. It made Ron’s head hurt. Malfoy seemed to know him, however.

“de Mort. Didn’t think I’d run into you again this early. What’s with the sign out there?” The other guy, the one whose name sounded similar to the Dark Lord’s, let out a laugh.

“Please Draco, call me Hadrian. de Mort makes me look around for my Uncle who’s actually in charge of everything. And I’m being blunt, horror of horrors. I’m not going to waste my time babysitting what so-and-so’s great grandfather said that probably isn’t even important anymore, just an excuse to be absolutely vile to another group of people. If you want to sit in here, the ancestral feuds stay outside the door.” Ron blinked, but shrugged. Didn’t sound so unfair. He could do it, keep his mouth shut about the Malfoys for however long it took.

“Ron, Ron Weasley.” Hadrian smiled at him, and Ron felt the vibes again. Almost fuzzy, warm, something that somehow said that Hadrian could be something Ron had been searching for without knowing it. They sat in fairly amicable silence for a bit, until the trolley came. Malfoy bought a bunch of stuff off of it, but Hadrian declined, patting the bag next to him. Ron wanted to sulk, but drew out his sandwich instead. Ugh, corned beef. Still, for some reason he didn’t want to look like a whiner in front of Hadrian, so he was ready to soldier through it. Until Hadrian opened his bag and pulled out an absolutely huge assortment of sandwiches, cans and bottles of drinks and what had to be muggle snacks and shook his head.

“Seriously? I thought just my Uncle packed my lunch. There’s way too much here, either of you want some?” Ron and Draco both nodded, though Ron was curious.

“Just your Uncle? What’d you mean by that?” Hadrian laughed.

“My Uncle’s my only blood family, at least the only blood family I’m speaking to since he took me away from my Aunt when she didn’t want me after my Mum died, but I have this huge adopted family that I consider Aunts and Uncles too. Sometimes they all decide to do something at once without telling the others. I can even tell who made what,” he pointed to the sandwich Ron was eating, which had a kind of mathematical perfection to it. “Uncle Verde made that one. That one,” his finger flicked to a sandwich that had a pretty sorry looking piece of lettuce poking out, what might have been lunchmeat, and rubbery looking cheese. “Has Auntie Lal all over it. Uncle Colonnello’s always telling her to be more ladylike, then she hits him hard enough to knock him over.” Draco raised an eyebrow.

“And he lets her?” Hadrian laughed.

“They’re an odd pair, but they love each other a lot.” Scabbers poked his nose out at all the food, only to vanish back into Ron’s pocket when what Ron had thought was a scale patterned bracelet raised a red eyed head and flicked its tongue out. He was about to say something when the door opened and a girl with bushy brown hair poked her head in.

“Has anyone seen a… snakes aren’t allowed, the rules say you can only have certain animals.” Hadrian sighed, patting the little snake’s head.

“As per article seven of the Hogwarts founders guide, a student may bring a bonded familiar providing that they can show proof the familiar is indeed bonded to them, can be reasonably kept indoors, and is not a danger to other students. Mythal’s a king snake, she’s not poisonous so she’s no danger to other students. She’s been my familiar for years, and she fits in her aquarium just fine. Now if it’d been Oodako, I’d have had to leave him behind.” The girl seemed in a huff that Hadrian’d had an answer to that, but also curious.

“Oodako?” Hadrian snickered.

“My Uncle’s familiar. Oodako’s this huge octopus, he’s really long lived too since the longest lived normal octopus only has a lifespan of three to five years but Oodako’s been around a lot longer then that. My Uncle trained him to follow his finger motions.” The girl looked really interested.

“I’m Hermione, Hermione Granger. Would… would you mind if I came back and sat here after I help Neville find his toad?” Ron and Draco both looked at Hadrian, who just smiled.

“Sure, you’re welcome to come back, ‘Mione-Chan!” Ron just shook his head.

Still, this was getting interesting.

* *

Draco watched the hat finish it’s song, grateful that Ron had been wrong and they hadn’t had to wrestle a troll or anything. He was feeling a bit overwhelmed, he’d never been exposed to so many different viewpoints and people. Still, he was enjoying himself, and he found he genuinely LIKED Weasley, de Mort and the Granger girl, even if his father would say they were blood traitors and a mudblood respectively. They were interesting people, people who could help Draco be great if they were so inclined, and they seemed to like him. Not what he could do for them, but just Draco himself! It was a novelty.

As the sorting began, Hadrian began to fidget, looking left and right nervously. While the student ahead of him was being sorted, he drew in a deep breath as if steeling himself. Then he closed his eyes and began taking off the headband he’d been wearing. He finished just as McGonagall called out:

“de Mort, Hadrian.” Draco froze as Hadrian turned now green eyes towards him and handed his the headband that had covered his forehead and the suddenly visible lightning bolt scar.

“Hold onto this for me, will you? Uncle Colonnello’ll have a fit if I lose it.” Harry Potter said before striding out into view and confidently setting the hat on his head. Draco felt like someone could have knocked him over with a puffskein.

Hadrian de Mort was Harry Potter.

* *

Hadrian kept his lips from quirking upwards into a little smirk like Uncle Renato’s with great effort. It had taken him a bit to decide whether or not to do this, but he remembered Renato’s advice.

_/”They’re going to know sooner or later that you’re ‘Harry Potter’.” The Sun Arcobaleno’s eye were full of mischief as he looked up at Hadrian. “So you have two choices.”_

_“One, string the game out for as long as you can, keep them looking for you and wasting resources. Two, reveal yourself immediately and grandly. Take control, and make it clear you have done so. Which one you choose.” Small hands patted Hadrian’s cheek lovingly._

_“I’ll leave that up to you, brat.”/_

Hadrian sat on the stool, leaning his staff into the crook of his body and taking a moment to bask in the lovely, lovely Chaos that he’d caused as whispers and choked off cries came from the tables around him. Professor McGonagall put the hat on his head, looking like she’d swallowed a lemon the entire time. There was a moment of absolute quiet.

“Well, well, aren’t you just the most interesting thing to come under me since I was created.” The voice of the hat was definitely amused. Hadrian controlled both his panic and the instinctive urge to rip the hat off and fling it across the room. “Magic and Flame, Spirit and Sky. But you don’t think of yourself as a wizard, heavens no. Even if you aren’t one, even if you never bear the curse or its failed form, you think of yourself as an Arcobaleno. As a Sky. All your cunning, bravery, and wisdom and you turn it to one focal point. To those you love beyond all reason. To break the curse that has never been broken. Such love and loyalty is up to snuff, sure enough you’re,”

“HUFFLEPUFF!” And now there was even more lovely, glorious Chaos bouncing about as people were screaming that he be re-Sorted it couldn’t be right, or sitting in silent shock that their ‘Savior’ wasn’t a brave Gryffindor but a ‘duffer’ Hufflepuff. Feh, idiotas. As if suicidal bravery was the ideal. Hadrian stood up, put the hat neatly back on the stool and bowed politely to it before heading to his table.

Now, to see if his cute little minions… err friends followed him or chose different houses.

* *

“Granger, Hermione.” McGonagall’s voice sounded shaky, as well it should after such a disruptive moment. Hermione had read the books about Harry Potter, though she’d had to admit they were probably wrong after the mass suing of the authors had happened. But for Hadrian to be him? Slightly goofy, pleasant and friendly Hadrian? Who wanted to know her, the know it all? It was a bit shocking.

Hermione sat on the stool in a daze, allowing the hat to be put on her head. The first thought through her head was that she wanted to be where Hadrian was. The hat groaned in her mind.

“You really are more of a Ravenclaw you know. Knowledge before everything else, but you’ll simply sit here and argue with me for hours to go where you want to go. Here’s hoping your elusive loyalty is strong enough, so go on into,”

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

Hermione felt proud of herself.

* *

Draco found himself still clutching the headband like a ninny after Neville Longbottom was sorted into Gryffindor. His brain was still stuck on the fact that Hadrian was the Boy-Who-Lived, someone his father hated intensely for defeating the Dark Lord. But Hadrian was… was…

Someone worth lying to his Father for.

Draco nearly sat on the hat, McGonagall pulling it off the stool just in time. The hat was plopped upon his head, and Draco just waited. And waited. It seemed to take forever.

“Well, your world view’s certainly taken some hits, for however much you’re already covering it up. Such is the Sky, that it draws what it desires to it. Though the Blessed certainly have it wrong that only one Element can take shelter in a Sky, but then again there’s been a resounding lack of strong Skies in recent history. Whose to say that won’t change though, just as you’ve changed your mind? But enough of that, we’re discussing your shattered illusions and rebuilt world. You’re a cunning, loyal bit of fluff, so like your Sky you’re a,”

“HUFFLEPUFF!” 

Draco’s thoughts as he handed the headband back to Hadrian and sat down next to Granger were that his father was going to have a heart attack. Or kill him.

Draco wasn’t sure which was worse.

* *

The chaos had mostly died down by the time they got to Ron, and he was grateful for it. It gave him time to think, to process. He could recognize the meaning behind the moves, even if they weren’t the same. A chess piece previously thought to be a pawn revealing itself as the Queen. Not the King, the Queen, for the Queen had the most freedom of any piece. But the tactics were tentative, almost uncertain. As if Hadrian wasn’t used to playing without someone to instruct him.

Ron’s right hand ached to move pieces, to show Hadrian what they could do together with the others. He sat quietly on the stool, starting when the hat spoke to him.

“Oh, you’re as obvious as your hair, little one. All sound and fury, but only a fool would think you signify nothing. You want to set yourself apart from the rest of your brothers, to not be the leftover son, and in Hadrian’s group you will indeed take the world by storm! So, little ruby in the rough, you’re going into,”

“HUFFLEPUFF!” Ron cheered, feeling as if a ten ton hammer had been taken to all his expectations and freed him from them. So what if he wasn’t a Gryffindor? How would following in the same path as his brothers make him anything but their shadow?

Ron was going to be himself, and that was what mattered.

* *

Cedric Diggory looked at what had to be the most misfit group of Hufflepuffs to ever be thrown into the Sett, but he couldn’t help but smile a little. Something in him told him they’d be great. They had the foundation already, all they needed was the framework and someone to spread a little good old Hufflepuff sunshine on them so they could grow.

And wasn’t that the duty of the Prefects and Head Boys/Girls of the House, to be as the muggles put it ‘little Mary Sunshine’?

He had a bunch of cubs to teach, and Cedric felt unaccountably thrilled at the thought.

~~Bonus Omake~~

Albus Dumbledore looked at Hufflepuff house where Harry Potter, or Hadrian de Mort as he was calling himself, proceeded to settle. And somehow uproot two long established families from their houses to join him. The boy looked at him and smiled, cute and innocent.

Or as cute and innocent as a baby demon could manage.

Albus told himself he was imagining things.

At least until the boy (he was sure it was Hadrian somehow) managed to blow up every private bathroom the teacher’s had without magic.

(Hadrian chuckled, it was amazing what one could do with a few household chemicals in the proper proportions and access to Lal Mirch and Colonnello.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to the KHR Wiki, Lal Mirch states in one of the interview extras that COMSUBIN teaches "how to manufacture explosives and firearms, use martial arts, survival skills, stealth techniques in invading enemy territories, how to deliver sarcasm politely, and assassination." Thus the Omake, though I have a feeling Hadrian's love of manufacturing explosives will find its way into the fic soon enough.
> 
> Also, if anyone can't guess who has which Flames amongst Hadrian's friends by now, I'm going to be very surprised.


	17. When Everything Feels Like The Movies/Yeah You Bleed Just to Know You're Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hadrian finds Hufflepuff's dorm far too easy to break into, classes are had, friends and enemies are made, and trolls are fried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I'll go into more details at the end of this chapter, I will say surprisingly few people guessed Hermione accurately, and I'd even left a few clues in earlier chapters. And to Witch_of_Perception, I'm glad you liked that I made sure to rhyme the Hat's sorting of them. It took a bit to find the right words, but I'm glad I did.

The part of Hadrian’s mindset that had been trained by Renato was having hysterics at how easy it was to get into the Hufflepuff common room.

Find the right barrel, tap an extremely obvious code, and just like that you were in. There wasn’t even much of a deterrent to tapping the wrong code or barrel, no fast acting paralytics or sleep darts. Vinegar! As if a foul smell would stop a truly determined assassin! It was almost enough to make Hadrian want to go home to his nice and safe mansion filled with people who killed for a living. Maybe he was being too hasty, maybe there were stronger protections further in, or they would be allowed to set their own security on their area.

He wasn’t going to hold much hope.

He supposed the common area was nice, beautifully put together and from traces left even centuries later it was clear Helga Hufflepuff had been an Earth flame, most likely with a Forest secondary. It was charming, snug, a veritable hobbit hole enlarged. Hadrian was distinctly aware that he was not in his natural place, however. Like most Skies, he had a bit of fear at being underground, away from his element. Earths would probably feel the same about being up in the air. Hadrian took a steadying breath and paid attention to the lecture they were being given.

“Alright cubs, we’ll keep this short and sweet. This is obviously the common room where you can talk, play games, do your homework and such as long as you’re respectful of others and don’t get too loud or crazy. Our dorms are a bit different from the Gryffindor or Slytherin ones, though Ravenclaw has something similar. Three of you to a room, and preferably chose people you can stand to room with for the next seven years. No sense in making the prefects have to come and separate you every night after all. Now I know we’re all human, but let’s try to keep it fair, clean and helpful boys and girls. Or at least hide the bodies somewhere Dumbledore’ll blame the Gryffindors or the Slytherins for.” With the last part, Hadrian had his hands on Ron and Draco’s collars before anyone could think to ask him to room with them. They didn’t protest much as he dragged them off to an unclaimed dorm, though he frowned at how much trouble Hermione was having acquiring roommates. That wasn’t good, but he couldn’t help her there.

His intuition, meanwhile, wanted as many of his minions to be nearby as possible.

* *

Albus Dumbledore took a swig of firewhiskey and wondered where things had gone wrong.

He’d left Harry with his Aunt, with a few reservations but no real worries. Lily’s sister might dislike magic, and she might be a bit rough on the child that wasn’t hers, but family was family. She would have done her duty, surely.

Yet apparently there’d been more family then he’d thought.

When Albus had heard ‘de Mort’ called, he’d assumed it was either a Muggleborn or someone with delusions of being the Dark Lord’s heir. He had never expected to see young Harry Potter walk up to the hat, managing a staff (not a wand, an actual staff thrumming with power already despite its master’s tender years) still quite a bit too tall for him. There had been vast amusement in those green eyes as the boy was sorted. Not into Gryffindor or even Slytherin, but Hufflepuff. The amusement had only increased as Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley followed him. Albus groaned at the thought of dealing with Lucius Malfoy and his undoubtedly vocal disapproval of Draco not being a Slytherin. While Albus had his doubts that the Founders had never come across a student they’d had to give to one of the others, the hat was a magical artifact. Powerful, sentient, but limited in its flexibility and viewpoint. It wouldn’t change its ‘mind’ no matter what. Albus shook his head.

Something had gone wrong, alright. Now he’d have to see if he could fix it.

* *

Ron couldn’t believe how freeing it was to not be where his family expected him to be.

Their first class had been with their head of house in the greenhouses, and he and Draco had had a fun time showing Hadrian what to do. Apparently while his family bred creatures of all kinds, that knowledge didn’t translate to knowing how to deal with a Chinese Chomping Cabbage. Well, short of managing to knock it flying into a group of Ravenclaws with his staff. Professor Sprout had been a bit worried, and tiny Professor Flitwick (who Hadrian was extremely respectful towards, way more then he was to any other teacher) was giving Hadrian lessons in staff handling, since using common spells with it took a lot more work then Ron would have thought.

Apparently a lot of those wand movements helped focus and channel the spell instead of causing it to explode outward randomly.

And now they were having potions. It was actually a lot quieter then Ron’s brothers were always going on about. Then again, they were in Gryffindor, and Professor Snape was a Slytherin, the house rivalries probably had a great deal to do with that. He and Hadrian had paired up for their potion, and Hermione had gotten put together with Draco after her first partner had complained she was too bossy. Draco seemed to be doing fine with her, however, the two of them whispering over their cauldron as they handed ingredients back and forth. It was actually rather soothing, watching the two of them go about their work.

“Ron! Don’t drop that in yet! Do you want it to… never mind, do it. The explosion’ll be cool.” Yet he needed to pay attention to his and Hadrian’s potion or it would no doubt have exploded four or five times by now, rivaling even Neville Longbottom’s tendency to cause his potions to go wrong.

Seriously, the guy melted a cauldron during his first class.

They were getting ready to head out when Professor Snape called out for Hadrian to stay behind. Ron and Draco looked worried, but Hadrian just shooed them on. Ron looked over at Draco and grinned.

“Race ya! Last one to class is a rotten bubotuber!” The two of them took off down the halls, laughing and trying to trip each other up.

* *

Hadrian watched his potions Professor warily after his minions to be had left. His intuition was… conflicted about the man. It felt both that the man would sacrifice everything for him, but at the same time the man would have been happy to see him die once, or at least indifferent to it.

( _Mist, so very classically Mist, and he does not bear us entirely good will._ His Sky sang to him. If he touched his bond to his Uncle, his Cloud and felt a long, slow, distant stirring of affection, well he was still a child after all.)

“Mister de Mort, while it is unusual for me to do so, I did know your mother when we were younger, your Aunt and Uncle as well. I thought perhaps you and your friends might wish to come down here this weekend, I have a few photos of her I could duplicate and give to you.” Hadrian made a show of chewing his lip, but his mind was already made up.

“Thank you Professor, I’ll try not to keep you up too late.” Snape nodded, something haunted in his eyes.

“Thank you, Mister de Mort. Now hurry, your next class starts soon.” Hadrian did as he was told, thinking.

Why did his intuition not entirely trust his teacher? What had Snape done to him directly or indirectly? And was it worth the effort to start a feud with the man?

Deep questions, ones Hadrian had no answers for. Yet.

* *

They were finally arriving at one of the lessons Hadrian had been on pins and needles about for days. Flying! Actually getting on a broom and flying! Sirius had told him about it, but never let him buy his own broom or try it. Possibly because Uncle Skull had made one of those noises he made when he wasn’t a happy Cloud about the idea. It wasn’t like Hadrian wasn’t capable of figuring out how to safely land, or stupid enough to go too high too fast.

Then again Uncle Skull hadn’t made the noise until Sirius had regaled them with stories of Quidditch and the amount of major damage players were capable of inflicting on each other. Hypocrite, it was perfectly acceptable for Uncle Skull to ride a motorcycle through a minefield, but Hadrian wasn’t allowed near a bludger.

He wasn’t allowed any fun.

“Just hold out your hands and say ‘Up!’ You might have to do it more then once, these brooms are a tad old.” Hadrian made a mental note to donate nice new brooms to the school once he got on Christmas break. Hooch wasn’t joking about old. He’d use decrepit himself about them. Most of the brooms kind of rolled over or shuddered, only a few smacking neatly into palms. Madam Hooch went down the line, correcting grips while Hadrian watched. It was one of the rare times other then meals he got to interact with all the other houses. He lingered on Neville Longbottom, who felt… odd to him. There was something there, but it took him time to recognize it, and by then it was too late.

“Help, help, oh help!” Neville sounded terrified as his ancient, piece of shit broom went up without his control. Hadrian cursed under his breath. Any of the rest of them would have been fine, but it figured Neville would be one of the Earth flames, not Earth itself so Hadrian wasn’t sure which. 

(The sense of growing leaves and vines, shady places for ferns and orchids blooming in canopies, this is not something the Sky understands even if Rain nurtures it and Mist helps it hide its secrets and Storm and Lightning helps it cleave the dead wood from it. But there is no Earth for this Forest, so he will have to fill in as best he can.)

The end was a bit predictable, and Hadrian wished he was not a Rainy Sky, a Winter Sky. A Summer Sky, a Sunny Sky could have healed the wrist then and there, all he can do is dull the pain a little. Hooch looked over at them, gold eyes narrowed.

“I’m going to take Mister Longbottom to Pomfrey. Anyone flying without my permission will be expelled faster then you can say Quidditch.” It didn’t take long after that for trouble to start. One of the Slytherins, Nott, found Neville’s funny little glass ball, a Rememberall Hadrian believed it had been called, and decided to be a complete ass and fly up out of reach with it. Harry calculated, then whispered to Draco.

“Your opinion, can she really expel us for flying without her?” Draco shook his head slightly.

“No, at least she probably wouldn’t if we do it in response to Nott’s being an ass. Nott she might have a case on, but his father’ll bribe mine and nothing will come of it.” Hadrian nodded back, looked over at Ron, and the three of them swung onto their brooms and took off after Nott with Hermione shrieking up at them that they were going to get expelled. Out of the corner of his eye, Hadrian saw Crabbe and Goyle take off too, no doubt to Nott’s aid. Hadrian called out to Nott.

“Only chance, give it here and this won’t turn ugly.” Nott sneered at him, jeering.

“Want it so badly, Potty, come and get it!” Hadrian snarled at both the wrong name and the rude shortening of it, and the chase began.

The Rememberall was tossed from Slytherin to Slytherin, Nott distracting Draco or Ron with catcalls about their parents with Crabbe or Goyle almost ramming into Hadrian to force him away. They finally lost concentration when Hooch yelled at them, the Rememberall slipping from Nott’s fingers and beginning its descent towards the ground.

Hadrian didn’t even think.

He was Sky, in his element, and even young he was powerful. The broom responded to his slight touch, and he dove, peregrine in its hunting dive towards his target. He zipped past Gryffindor head of house’s open window to her startled yowl, aware of everything. One hand cupped the Rememberall gently, the other pulled sharply back on the broom so that he climbed again, almost breathless before he regained enough altitude to level out and try a much safer landing. Hadrian looked over at Madam Hooch and smiled charmingly.

“Nott started it?”

The resulting detention that night with Filch and a truly filthy broom storage closet was worth it. To top it off, one of the older boys, Cedric Diggory got permission from Professor Sprout to tutor them all in broom riding as up and coming Quidditch players.

* * 

Saturday afternoon is lovely and clear, and Hadrian almost regretted having agreed to go meet Snape. There were things to do before autumn truly set in, a lake just begging to be lounged by while the three of them played Exploding Snap. Still, Ron and Draco both agreed to go down with him to talk to the Professor. Hadrian had tried to include Hermione, but she’d waved him off, babbling about schoolwork and keeping up. Which was nonsense, she was already several weeks ahead of the rest of them. Hadrian was worried she was headed straight towards a breakdown if she didn’t learn to ease up.

(She is the strongest of his minions to be, though her flame is surprisingly muddled for him. She could be any one of three flames or combinations of them from what he can tell, and it makes his head hurt. Unless or until she goes Active, he cannot tell her primary at all.)

The professor opened the door to a room for them, clearly not his but just as clearly often used. They sat for a short time in uneasy silence, before Snape spoke.

“I am grateful that your Uncle raised you, Hadrian. I had worried that I would look at you and only see your father, but I see both of them.” He sighed. “I suppose people have told you that your father and I didn’t get along.” Hadrian nodded.

“If it’s any consolation, my Uncle wasn’t too fond of him either. He felt my father needed a good deal of arrogance knocked out of him.” Snape chuckled a little, then pushed a packet of photos over to Hadrian.

“These are the photos I promised, though to be fair I asked for copies from others as well, and not just those that show them in a flattering light. As much as I would love to paint James a villain and Lily an innocent maid beguiled by his charms, neither is the case.” Hadrian bowed politely.

“Thank you sir.” Snape smiled a little, then looked at Draco.

“A warning, Draco. Your father is… unhappy at your house. And at his inability to force a change in it. I would expect a very nasty response soon.” Draco hunched down, looking ashamed.

“Thank you for the warning, sir. I’ll be ready.” Hadrian narrowed his eyes as they left.

No one messed with what was his, not even their own families. Lucius Malfoy had better be guarding his back carefully from then on.

* *

The annoying thing about Hadrian was the general Chaos that he left in his wake, Ron decided.

It seemed to be an odd mix of purposeful and accidental. The sorting, purposeful, blowing up the teachers toilets (Fred and George had paid Ron to get a toilet seat from Hadrian and then sent it to Ginny), purposeful. The broom thing, accidental. Their current predicament?

Ron had a feeling was accidental.

Cedric had taken them all flying on the Quidditch pitch, even Hermione joining in, if only because Hadrian had taken her homework hostage. They’d been getting back when they’d seen Neville and a nervous looking Dean Thomas and Sean Finnegan slipping into the trophy room. They’d followed in order to find out what was happening, which was supposed to be a duel with Nott over what he’d tried to do to Neville’s Rememberall. From the sound of it, Nott had forced Neville into it with the threat of telling his grandmother and Neville losing face. Cedric had been scolding them for it when the door had opened and Filch had shown up instead. They’d all run, only to run into Peeves who’d gleefully sold them out. Hermione had opened a door and they’d thought they were safe.

Except there was a giant three headed dog drooling down on them.

Great, Ron was going to be remembered as the Weasley brother who became dog chow.

“Confringo!” The sound of Hadrian’s staff end slamming down on the stone was lost in the cerberus’ howl of agony as the spell hit one of its heads square in the eye. Ron and the rest of them wasted no time in wrenching open the door, bolting down separate halls towards their respective dorms, and climbing into their common rooms. Hermione looked over at them with a disgusted look.

“I’m going to bed before the lot of you get us killed. Or worse, expelled.” Cedric looked over at them as she flounced off and Ron, Draco and Hadrian all shrugged and said at the same time.

“She needs to sort out her priorities.”

* *

Hermione would say she’d hit the low point of her life.

She was trying, trying so hard to show Hadrian she could be helpful. She had the access to the books, she could answer the teacher perfectly (too much book, not enough street, her crutch is obvious), could help him. Could help others like a good ‘Puff! But the others, they said things, always when Hadrian wasn’t there to defend her. Little things, needling things usually. At least until today, when Lavender Brown from Gryffindor sent her crying.

 _’Geeze Granger, the way you flap your lips you’d think you knew something.’_ And now here she was, crying in a loo. Hermione looked up as the door opened, surprised when Draco stuck his head in. She thought about saying something, but he looked just as miserable as she did. She awkwardly patted the floor beside her and they sat together for a long time before Draco broke the silence.

“I heard from my parents today. Mum… she at least said she doesn’t care what house I’m in as long as I’m happy. Dad…” He clenched his fists and Hermione patted one absently.

“All sorts of fancy words and biting phrases, boiling down to how dare I shame the family like that. Like my education’s going to be any different because I’m in Hufflepuff rather than Slytherin! It’s still the same curriculum, same teachers, same classmates. The only difference would have been in which head of house played favorites.” He wiped his nose on his sleeve, eyes dark.

“Bugger him, I’m going to be the best Hufflepuff ever.” Hermione smiled.

“I’ll help.” The door creaked open again, and a sudden, fetid odor assaulted both of them. Their eyes swiveled to the door, to widen in horror.

It was ugly, lumpy, like someone had tried to make a human with only a vague notion of what a human should look like. It’s eggish head sat directly on its shoulders, far too tiny for it, set in a wide, dopey but malevolent smile. One hands knuckles dragged on the ground, the other held a huge spiked club. It was dressed in rags that seemed more a mockery then an actual attempt at modesty. It was a troll. In a tiny enclosed space. With them.

Two sets of hands clasped tightly together.

Two sets of eyes widened even more.

They both screamed.

No.

They were not going to die there.

Not on a bathroom floor.

Not and leave Hadrian alone.

They would survive.

They would!

_**/With our Dying Will!/** _

Indigo flames filled the room, shapes out of nightmare appearing and bearing fangs and suckers and other things at the troll. Unfortunately for them, as many Mists over the centuries had learned (including Daemon Spade to his horror and Alaude’s humor), trolls were one of the few things that Mist flames didn’t work on. They were literally too stupid to fall for the illusions.

Fortunately the troll was soon distracted.

“Hey ugly!”

* *

Hadrian, Ron and Cedric were worried about Hermione and Draco. They’d been looking for them before Filch had herded them to the Halloween feast with nasty comments about students making trouble and messes, as if they were Ron’s two older brothers. Okay, so Hadrian had a tendency to cause Chaos when not supervised but they were honestly looking for their friends. Hermione had been sent crying by one of the Gryffindor girls and Draco had disappeared after getting a pair of letters from his parents. Hadrian remembered that Snape had warned Draco his father wasn’t happy with him and wanted to be there for his friend. And away from the festivities. It was Halloween, after all.

The day of his parents murder.

A few years back, Hadrian had seen a movie about a man and his fiancée who were murdered on Halloween, where the man had come back a year later to get their killers. To set the wrong things right. Hadrian wished something like that could happen, but it wouldn’t. His father had gone on, and his mother…

Trapped somewhere between life, death, and the shadow world of the ghosts, somehow part of all three and neither simultaneously.

He was picking at his meal, noting Cedric and Ron’s worried faces when Professor Quirrell came screaming down the Great Hall. What he said made Hadrian’s blood run cold.

“Troll! Troll! Troll in the dungeons.” The wimpy professor swayed. “Thought you ought to know.” And went out like a candle. In the hullabaloo that followed, Hadrian and Ron both slipped away, with Cedric catching up to them, scolding.

“You two, you have to go with the rest!” Hadrian shook his head.

“Hermione and Draco, they don’t know about the troll!” And then it hit him, sent him running down the hall on blind instinct. The two were so intertwined they might as well have come from the same source, the difference being one was streaked with lighter blue and the other with hints of purple and dark green in his mind. Mists, his Mists were _screaming_ for him and he had to find them, to save them. Hadrian burst through the bathroom door, Sky flames flaring to yips of shock from behind him.

“Hey ugly!” Hadrian punctuated that call with a lash of his flames. The troll turned and through sheer dumb luck hit Hadrian square in the ribs, bouncing him off the wall. Things went south for the troll quickly after that.

Cedric shoved forward, his hands touching open gashes while Hadrian looked dazed. No, he wasn’t going to see this happen. One of his cubs wasn’t going to die on his watch. He refused to let it happen.

_/As if I were the one to Die!/_

Yellow fire with the faintest tint of purple flowed from his hands, mending bone, cleansing blood, knitting flesh back together as Harmony sang to Activation.

Ron saw red, ruby red, fire red, red red red.

Like was on the club.

The club that had hit Hadrian.

The club that was threatening his friends.

That club had to go.

 _/With all my Will!/_

Storm flame screamed into wakefulness, green touches at its base, eating the club away into nothingness. The Storm wrapped protectively around its Harmony, a violent beast on a slender chain that it could break if it wanted to, but never would.

Draco felt something shift when the troll hit Hadrian, and the first flame, the one that had been useless against the troll, dimmed while a second one flared. He wanted the troll to stop, to not move, to just stay still so it could die.

Mist remained dominant, but Rain joined it, enhanced it until it became Fog. And the troll didn’t move.

It couldn’t, even as Hermione screamed and screamed in frustrated rage, the violet and green in her indigo flames becoming slightly more prominent. Enough with the rules, enough with being pushed around, enough with seeing _what was Hers be hurt!_ Still screaming like a maddened thing, she awkwardly clambered up the troll, shoving her wand up its nose, heedless of its snot and blood, until it could go no further.

“Fulgur!” Cloud flame propagated weak Lightning flame, which in turn amped the lightning spell. The troll’s brain fried under the excess, and it slumped down dead. Hermione and Draco crawled over to Ron and Cedric and Hadrian, shaking and laying their heads in his lap as Cedric finished healing him. Hadrian drew a shuddering breath, then used his Sky and Rain to Harmonize and Tranquilize the still visible flames of the others just before the teachers came in. McGonagall took in the warzone with wide and shocked eyes.

“What in Merlin’s name happened here?” Hadrian smiled weakly up at her, while Cedric shushed the others and whispered it would be okay.

“Chaos?” And oh was he going to catch an earful from Uncle Skull and Uncle Renato for this. This wasn’t the type of Chaos Renato had meant at all.

At least he had his full set now.

~~Bonus Omake~~

“GET IT AWAAAAAAYYYYY!” Alaude knew he should be helping. Even if he wasn’t always fond of Daemon Spade, they shared the same Sky. And he would, eventually.

“ALAUDE YOU BASTARD QUIT LAUGHING!” Once he could stop rolling on the ground laughing as Daemon Spade ran away from a horny female troll that apparently had a human fetish.

Giotto and the rest of his guardians were too busy staring at Alaude rolling on the ground laughing to even think of helping.

Needless to say, it took Daemon Spade many centuries to stomp out the tale of Daemon and the Troll from the annals of Mafia history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now everyone's flames have been revealed. For a more accurate rundown of Hadrian's set, it goes something like this:
> 
> Skull: pure Cloud flame  
> Verde: pure Lightning flame  
> Colonnello: pure Rain flame  
> Cedric: about 99% Sun flame, with the remaining 1% being Cloud  
> Ron: about 99% Storm flame, with the remaining 1% being Lightning  
> Draco: about 55% Mist flame, 45% Rain flame (making it more a Fog flame)  
> Hermione: about 60% Mist, 30% Cloud, 10% Lightning 
> 
> I always intended Draco and Hermione to jointly take Hadrian's Mist spot, save for a brief time when Hermione would have been Hadrian's Mist and Luna and Draco would have shared the spot of his Rain. Hints of Mist Hermione are as far back as taking over the Caracassa where kitten Crookshanks made an appearance. Their dynamic is different then Mukuro and Chrome's however, they're not co-dependent, but they represent different faucets of their element. Draco is the more subtle one with his Rain secondary, the one likely to make changes that go unnoticed until it's far too late for his targets to save themselves, while Hermione is the far more aggressive and combat oriented one of them (to Viper's horror).
> 
> Hope everyone likes this chapter, and the omake at the end. (Somewhere in the multiverse Daemon Spade no doubt wants my head on a silver platter for it.)


	18. All Your Life You've Never Seen/A (Wo)man Taken By the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fall out of the troll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, real life has been a pain the last since the last update so this one took longer then I planned. I hope everyone enjoys it!

Exiled immediately back to their dorm room by Dumbledore and Sprout, Hadrian flopped down on his bed, sighing theatrically.

“Dead.” He half moaned, half sang the word. “Dead, dead, so very, very dead…” Ron and Draco shared a half concerned, half shaken look. The adrenaline had begun to wear off, and both of them were beginning to realize the hole they’d found themselves in. That Hadrian was Blessed by the Sky, and that they had sworn themselves to him, in deed if not in word. That Hadrian was still singing that he was dead was unnerving as well. Draco looked at Ron, who gave him a blank look, before mustering enough courage to poke Hadrian. Hadrian responded with a dirty look.

“What? I’m busy lamenting my inevitable fate, thank you.” Draco rolled his eyes.

“And would our Sky be so kind as to tell us why he’s ‘dead, so very dead’?” Hadrian sighed, looking at his hands.

“Well, do we start with letting two of my Guardians nearly get mashed by a troll? Breaking Omerta because technically several of you weren’t active when I got its attention? That this was NOT the kind of Chaos Uncle Renato meant? That Uncle Skull is going to ground me for eternity? Oh fuck, Auntie Luce.” Hadrian’s eyes took on a wild look. “Auntie Luce is going to KILL me!” He stuck his head under his pillow, whimpering. 

Draco and Ron looked at each other, praying he was kidding.

* *

Albus took one look at his glass, shook his head and took a direct swig from his bottle of Old Ogden’s, ignoring Minerva’s disapproving noise. A full grown, very dead mountain troll in one of the girls bathrooms. Wrecked plumbing, damaged halls, dented suits of armor. And the kicker. The poisoned cherry on top of the cow pie cake. Hadrian de Mort and his friends sitting in the wreckage, all trying to look innocent.

Albus took another swig.

“Albus, stop that and act your age! Or at least share.” Minerva looked at Fillius and Pomona, sighing. “It would be that lot. They’re your students, Pomona, why can’t they behave like normal Hufflepuffs?” Pomona snorted and grabbed the bottle away from Albus, who made a distinctly sulky sound while Fawkes trilled mockingly.

“Diggory does behave like a normal Hufflepuff. He’s a good, polite, helpful boy. The rest… Granger should have been in Ravenclaw, she’s got the mind for it. Weasley and Malfoy seem to have mutually decided ‘fuck the family feud’ and follow de Mort like he was their feudal lord. As for de Mort himself,” she took a swig and passed the bottle to Minerva. “Well, he’s a Hufflepuff, just not a conventional one.” Fillius raised an eyebrow at her.

“How can you call someone so Gryffindor a Hufflepuff?” Pomona shook her finger at him.

“He’s loyal to his family and his friends, he’s compassionate and willing to help, just on his terms. Yes he’s brave, but he doesn’t have the Gryffindor impulsiveness. He’s cunning and ambitious, but unlike most Slytherins he has lines he won’t cross for what he wants. Make no mistake, he’s made several masterful plays getting Diggory, Weasley, Malfoy and Granger as his friends. We’re just fortunate he seems to have no greater plans then figuring out a different way to blow up the toilets each year instead of world domination.” Albus thought of young Mister Potter, thought of all that Chaos turned to evil. His fears that the boy was a Horcrux.

Albus dug out another bottle and drank before starting to compose a letter to Hadrian’s guardian about his latest incident.

* *

The fall garden was full, ripened and ripening fruit and vegetables looking delicious and ready to eat. Skull was contemplating what he’d make with dinner. Maybe squash, maybe eggplant. Then he saw the owl coming. He shook his head, having learned to recognize the school owls by their harried expression and the fact that they came about once a week. Usually to tell him what Hadrian had blown up, damaged, caused to do something it shouldn’t, or attempted to make into a pet. He held his arm out to it, offering it treats as he took the letter from it. The owl took off like a bat out of hell, causing Skull to wonder what Hadrian had blown up this time.

He opened the letter.

 _Mister de Mort, we regret to inform you…_ Skull read the pages, going still as he read and re-read one passage as if it would change. His left eye twitched, and Skull spun on his heel and stormed out of the garden. A certain Sun was about to get an unpleasant surprise.

Skull found Renato, Colonnello, Fon and Luce relaxing. Well, Fon and Luce were relaxing, Colonnello and Renato were trying to outshoot each other. The first clue Renato had that Skull was there was when he found himself hanging upside down from a chain in a tree. Skull thrust the letter at him, snarling.

“This is YOUR fault. Right now he’s YOUR son.” Renato was about to object to Skull’s implication that they were Hadrian’s parents when he read the passage. He blinked. On the one hand, it certainly was Chaos. On the other… Fon took the letter and passed it to Luce after reading it himself. Luce finished the letter, then smiled sweetly at the men.

“Boys, I think it is time we indulged in the wizarding parents way of expressing displeasure at their offspring.” Her smile was so sweet the devil would have cringed in fear.

“We are going to send a Howler.”

Far away in Hogwarts, Hadrian shivered.

* *

Jaeger waited patiently.

Very patiently.

Until Hadrian had his new Guardians alone in a disused classroom and was trying to answer their questions before breakfast.

Then he slowly opened a portal behind Hadrian and appeared in all his chain rattling, Vindice terror. He gave himself ten bonus points because the female Mist actually shut up and stared in shock. Hadrian meanwhile more resembled a puppy that was aware the puddle of piss on the floor was going to get it the rolled up newspaper.

“Let me guess, I’m in trouble?” Jaeger chuckled a bit, watching the Sun and the male Mist flinch a bit at the sound.

“Not yet, but you had best mind Omerta very, very carefully from here on in, Hadrian de Mort. As should your Guardians. If they breach it,” he stared straight into Hadrian’s eyes to impress the seriousness of the situation on him. “You will be the one to answer for them, as a Sky must. Is that understood?” Hadrian nodded.

“Yes, Jaeger-San. I understand my duty to my guardians, under penalty of being sentenced to the Vindicare if they break Omerta.” Jaeger nodded slowly and stepped back through the portal, smirking a little under his wrappings at the red haired Storm’s parting words.

“I take it back Hermione. You’re not scary, he is.”

* *

Hermione felt frustrated.

Hadrian hadn’t had a chance to tell them much before the stranger had shown, and then the discussion had devolved into explanations of what the Vindicare was and who the stranger was and what the Vindice were. That had taken so much time that they’d had to run to breakfast. At least Hadrian had been able to give them some very, very basic information. Even if it was ‘don’t mention the flames, and don’t piss off the Vindice’. Really, he could have given them more information. Hermione brightened up when the morning post came, only to frown when an owl dropped a bright red envelope in front of Hadrian and took off like it’s tailfeathers were on fire. Draco winced.

“That’s a Howler, better open it fast Hadrian.” Hadrian was looking at the envelope, which was starting to smoke. “They’re worse if they open on their own… too late.” The envelope practically exploded.

“HADRIAN DE MORT!!!” A young man’s voice got the whole halls attention. “WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING? WERE YOU THINKING? YOUR ASS IS GROUNDED WHEN YOU GET HOME…” Another mans voice cut in.

“CIAOSSU, THIS WAS NOT WHAT I MEANT BY CHAOS, BRAT. YOUR TOR… TUTORING SESSION DURING WINTER BREAK JUST GOT ADDED TO!” Several other male voices and one woman’s added in a jumbled amount of promises of extreme pain or suffering. Then the letter went almost quiet for it as a second woman spoke, so that everyone both strained to hear it and yet it echoed even more deafeningly in the hall’s silence somehow.

“Hadrian, sweetling, light of our lives other then my Aria. You are going to have to explain yourself to ME. And bring your friends for winter break, we’re all Willing to meet them.” The second woman’s voice was sweet, kind, motherly. “And if you do something so utterly stupid again this year…”

“I WILL KICK YOUR ASS!” Students yelped at the last screamed sentence as the letter tore itself to shreds. Hadrian whimpered.

“So dead…” Hermione idly grabbed his hair as he attempted to drown himself in his porridge and thought.

It looked like she wouldn’t be spending Christmas with her parents like she’d originally planned.

* *

Remus Lupin sighed as he looked at yet another rejection letter. No one was willing to take a chance on him. It didn’t matter that he was sometimes vastly more qualified then the other applicants. That he’d gone to Hogwarts and graduated with honors. Everyone took one look at the fact he was a werewolf and chose someone else for the job.

There was a knock on his door, and Remus went to answer it, dreading it being the land lord telling him he’d have to leave because of late rent, or some minor thing that would make the man break his lease. Never officially that he was a werewolf, but that was what it all boiled down to. He opened the door, sighing.

“Look, I’m sorry…” and stared into amused and familiar eyes.

“Sorry it’s taken me so long to catch up, Moony.” Sirius Black smiled charmingly at him.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

~~ Bonus Omake~~

The two parties stared at each other.

The items they held for their respective deviltry couldn’t be hidden.

Eyes met, and slow smiles of evil and Chaos spread.

“Hello, I’m Hadrian de Mort. Shall we join forces?”

“Hello,”

“Hadrian.”

“We’re”

“Gred”

“And Forge”

“Weasley. And yes we shall.”

No toilet survived the rest of the night.


	19. We Wish You A (Very Late) Merry Christmas and A (Late) Happy New Year!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius and Remus talk, and the Hufflepuffs get permission (or don't technically) to go to Hadrian's for Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is far later then I planned to get this finished and posted, but I managed to destroy my zip drive that had my fics on it, including a future part of this fic that I'd written down but was nowhere near to posting. Then real life decided to be a bitch and to top it off Sirius and Remus did not want to sit down and talk. I've finally got this chapter done, so hopefully I'll get back in the flow of it.
> 
> Very late Merry Christmas and slightly late Happy New Year to everyone!

Two cups of tea steamed on the rickety table, ignored by their respective drinkers. Sirius seemed uncertain of where to begin, looking at Remus only to look away again. Remus both could and couldn’t blame him. Years had passed without a word since Sirius had been found innocent and just left England entirely, an action that had enraged the wolf within Remus to no end. On the other hand, Remus had ignored years of friendship, had been willing to tar Sirius with the brush of ‘being a Black’ just as much as the rest of the public. He hadn’t even given him the benefit of the doubt, or if he had he had kept his head down, not wanting to risk himself for his friend. Remus took a steadying breath, picked up his teacup, and took a sip. Finally he spoke, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.

“Why are you here?” Sirius seemed pathetically glad he hadn’t had to speak first.

“Honestly? There are several reasons.” His eyes met Remus’ squarely, dark and serious. “Harry’s old enough for Hogwarts, for one. I’ve spent years working through what happened to James, Lily, and myself for another.” Sirius’ lips quirked up, almost into a smile. “I need to reintegrate myself into the world I was born in, both for Harry’s sake and my own. As for why I’m here specifically…” mischief came into his expression. “I heard you were two steps up from living in a dog house.”

Remus restrained himself from launching across the table and making Sirius eat his teacup. He did growl at him, the noise low and feral. Sirius sighed, shaking his head.

“Sorry, that was my bad. I know I’m not nearly as funny as I think I am.” He fiddled with his teacup. “I wanted to talk to you about a lot of things. Why you didn’t check up on Harry, why you didn’t look me up when it was proven I was innocent. Why you abandoned me.” He fell silent, and Remus felt small and petty. If he’d been transformed, his tail would have been between his legs.

“I…” How to begin? Where to begin? “I was wrong. But the evidence was so overwhelming, and it seemed the Wizengamot had all the facts. And…” he steadied himself, looked Sirius square in the eyes. “It’s not like you hadn’t done something that could have gotten one of us killed before for reasons no better then ‘he was a slimy Slytherin’.” Sirius flinched at that reminder. Remus sighed, feeling ancient. “As for Harry… I was told he was safe, protected. That my being there could draw attention to him. And that it might not be… safe for me to be around him.” It burned, the unspoken implication that as a werewolf he might hurt Harry.

(He does not know, he was Rain to Storm and broken Lightning, and a Mist that valued being on ‘the winning side’ over everything else. His Rain is weakened by the beast yoked to his blood, it cannot calm or wash away the blood that will come to be on his lips and hands.)

“Remus…” Sirius looked almost as tired. “If things had gone the way someone set them up, Harry’s childhood would have been miserable. As it is, it’s been… unorthodox. But he’s happy, and he’s thriving, and that’s enough for me. As for your ‘condition’…” Sirius stood up, handed Remus an invitation. “Come visit Harry, myself and his madcap little family over Christmas break. They may be able to help more then you’d think.” Polite goodbyes were exchanged, and Sirius left, while Remus contemplated his choices.

In the end, it was easy for him to decide to go. His pack was giving him a second chance, he wasn’t going to fail them again.

*

Hadrian flicked his quill idly, watching his professor out of the corner of his eye. Quirrell seemed soft, weak, easy prey. He stammered, quivered, was afraid of his own shadow. If Hadrian was anyone else, he’d have fallen for the display. But he was a Sky, with his full set now. His intuition was strong, and Quirrell set off several alarms to him. On a whim, Hadrian carefully fed his flames up from an ember to a flicker, not enough to manifest visible signs that might get him caught. Just enough to Encompass the room he was in. For a moment he studied his classmates, finding that the Hufflepuffs had a larger majority of Suns and Rains while the Ravenclaws tended towards Mists and Lightnings, before he focused on Quirrell.

Hadrian felt his face blanch, before he leapt upright, hands going over his mouth as he bolted from the classroom. He ignored Filch yelling at him for running in the halls and being out of class, bolting into the nearest bathroom that he hadn’t vandalized (he was precocious, not stupid, not even magic could replace all the toilets faster then some student or teacher would need them) and vomited into the first unoccupied toilet. He thought of what he’d felt from Quirrell, of the fading Mist flame smothered and choked by a sickening black one, and retched again, though nothing came up but bile. He felt his Mists and Sun and Storm about him, felt his Uncle send concern down their bond, and steadied himself. He would not allow the thing that was wearing Professor Quirrell like a robe to hurt his Elements. He would root it out and send it scurrying back to the deeper dark from which it crawled.

There was much to be done, it seemed.

*

Lucius Malfoy was not… happy with his son’s house in Hogwarts.

Narcissa Malfoy on the other hand? She just wanted her baby to be happy. And she’d known Hufflepuffs. True most of them were very much, how had that muggle born Slytherin she’d known put it, ‘Lawful Good Clerics’, but the ones that weren’t...

Well, they knew how to hide the bodies better then the Slytherins did.

So her baby was a Hufflepuff. Harry Potter was a Hufflepuff as well. Harry Potter was already working on surpassing the Marauders and the Weasley Twins as Hogwarts’ greatest force of primeval Chaos. Harry Potter liked people and liked Draco. And he was willing to invite Draco over for Christmas, into where he’d been living for years.

Lucius was an addle-pated fool.

On the one hand, if Voldemort somehow resurrected and won, they had a spy within Potter’s ranks, even if Draco did die a noble death. If Voldemort resurrected and lost, they could claim to have funneled information through Draco to help the Light Side win. If things remained as they were? Well, having friends in the right places never hurt a Black or a Malfoy. It was a nice setup, made even better by the fact that Draco was actually happy with it and had gotten friends out of the deal. Win/Win/Win as far as Narcissa was concerned.

Now, what to send as a lovely Christmas gift because Draco would no doubt consider a proper gift a collection of chocolate frog cards.

*

Molly Weasley opened the letter from her youngest son, wondering what was so important he’d actually written her. She read it. Then re-read it. Then a third time just to be sure. Yup, it still said the same thing.

“Oh dear.”

_Dear Mum,_

_Hadrian (that’s what Harry likes to be called) says I ought to come clean, so I am. I made friends with Draco Malfoy as well as him. That Draco Malfoy (don’t tell Dad he’ll have a fit). Anyway, I know you’re gonna go visit Charlie so I can’t come home for Christmas but Hadrian says me and Draco and our other friends Hermione and Cedric can come visit him for Christmas. Please Mum? Hadrian’s famiglia (that’s family in Italian see I’m learning new words!) raises all kinds of neat animals and they have a big dinner and I really wanna go with my friends. Pretty, pretty please? I’ll even study!_

_Love, Ron_

_P.S. I was unfortunately unsuccessful in keeping Hadrian and Fred and George apart. Expect a lot of complaints about blown up toilets._

Molly sighed, shook her head, and shooed Ginny back to the dishes. Then she sat down to write a formal letter to Harry Potter thanking him for letting Ron come and have Christmas with him.

Now, what color of sweaters was she going to knit for all of Ron’s new friends?

*

Amos Diggory raised an eyebrow at his son’s head in the Floo. While Cedric was a friendly and helpful boy, he’d never wanted to go over to a friends for Christmas. Especially a younger years. He sighed.

“Cedric, I don’t know…” Cedric sighed as well.

“Maybe just for a day? Hadrian’s family wants to meet all of his new friends. I know all the others are going, so it’s not like I’m doing anything inappropriate.” Amos thought it over, and then nodded.

“The day before Christmas Eve, then. That way nobody has those two nights interrupted.” Cedric beamed at him, and Amos was struck by how much happier his son seemed.

“Thanks Dad! I’ll go tell Hadrian!” Cedric vanished from the flames, and Amos smiled.

His son was happy, that was good.

*

Hermione last about a day before she cracked and spilled to Draco.

“I told my parents I was so busy reading and learning that I really didn’t have time to come home for Christmas instead of asking them if I could go to Hadrian’s.” Draco blinked slowly, his quill dripping ink onto his homework. Hermione sniffed a little at that, but didn’t scold him. He’d either rewrite a tidy version or not. Given the fact that he was helping her understand a lot of the pureblood intricacies she was going to have to deal with if she wanted to get into a position where she could make sure any flame active magic user was safe from being discriminated against, she could cut him some slack.

“Umm, not to sound rude, Hermione, but you do realize that was a very Slytherin thing to do, not a very Hufflepuff one?” Hermione stuck her tongue out at him, then sputtered when Draco poked it with his quill, leaving a dot of ink behind.

“Yes, but from what little Hadrian’s told us, it’s also a very Mist thing to do. And it’s not like I won’t be reading and learning, I’ll just be learning flames instead of magic. Think of it,” her eyes gleamed with avarice. “All of that knowledge, and it’s something the Ministry can’t track so we can actually use it as long as we’re careful!” Draco smiled, shaking his head.

“Bookworm.” Hermione laughed back at him.

“Spoiled rich boy.” Life was good.

And Hermione was going to make sure it STAYED good.

~Omake~

It had happened.

The day Ron feared.

He tapped the door to the Gryffindor common room and asked to see Percy. His oldest older brother at Hogwarts took one look at his pale face and gasped.

“No!” Ron somberly shook his head.

“Yes. They have met, and they have bonded. The Toilet Apocalypse has begun.”

Hogwarts was doomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Hermione, instead of the house elves it's the flame users...
> 
> And Percy is going to be driven to drink.


End file.
